Previously unknown facts about Jaws mega-shark ancestor revealed

The true scale of a prehistoric mega-shark has been revealed for the first time.

A new study from the University of Bristol and Swansea University has calculated the total body size of the Otodus megalodon - the distant ancestor of the great white shark depicted in hit blockbuster, Jaws, in 1975.

The megalodon lived from about 23 million to three million years ago, and has attracted its own fame more recently in Hollywood movies such as The Meg.

The British academic team revealed just one of the massive creature's fins was as large as an entire adult human.

By comparison, a modern-day great white shark measures around six metres in length. Where a great white can bite with a force of two tonnes, the megalodon chomped on prey with a 10-tonne grip.

The researchers used mathematical methods and comparisons with the megalodon's living relatives to help determine the prehistoric creature's size. Their results suggest a 16-metre megalodon is likely to have had a head round 4.65 metres long, a dorsal fin approximately 1.62 metres tall and a tail around 3.85 metres high.

This means an adult human could stand on the back of the shark and be about the same height as the dorsal fin.

Jack Cooper, who has completed a master of science degree in palaeobiology at the University of Bristol's School of Earth Sciences, described the study as his "dream project".

"I have always been mad about sharks. As an undergraduate, I have worked and dived with great whites in South Africa - protected by a steel cage of course," he said.