New research has suggested that the Megalodon – the biggest shark that ever lived – ate sperm whales for breakfast.
The iconic beast, that became extinct three millions years ago due to global cooling, was three-and-a-half times bigger than a great white shark, measuring up to 65ft long and weighing more than 50 tons.
And, now, scientists have deduced through new fossil findings that Megalodon would regularly rip off a sperm whale's head by biting through the flesh with its seven-inch serrated teeth.
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The huge and powerful sea monster was attracted by the whale's huge nose which accounts for a third of its body.
Packed with oily saturated fats, the snout's tissue would have represented the Megalodon's most nourishing food.
The study went on to indicate that the legendary predator also attacked another prehistoric sea monster Leviathan melvillei, which was named after the author of Moby Dick – Herman Melville.
The findings are based on seven-million-year-old fossilised sperm whale skulls from the coastal desert of southern Peru.
Lead author Aldo Benites-Palomino, a palaeontology student at the University of Zurich, said: "Most of the bite marks have been found on the bones that would be adjacent to these soft tissue structures, such as the jaws, or around the eye, thus indicating that sharks actively targeted this region."
The sharks ranged from Megalodon to species still around today including mako sharks, sand sharks and the great white.
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Half a dozen skulls were unearthed at the Pisco Formation in the Ica Desert – a world-renowned site.
It is famous for a treasure trove of Miocene-era shark and ray remains, bony fishes, turtles, marine crocodiles, seabirds, whales and seals.
Explorations carried out in the area over the last 30 years have also unveiled aquatic sloths and even walrus-faced dolphins.
It is believed sharks directly targeted the whales in the water and also scavenged them.
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