Megalodon hunting Livyatan coloring page for Shark Week

 Today on this, my free coloring pages blog, in honor of Shark Week, I am posting a drawing of 

Megalodon, the giant shark. It is hunting an ancestor of the modern Sperm Whale.

Megalodon hunting Livyatan

Megalodon was a giant shark that lived in the ocean until about 5 million years ago. It hunted whales, seals, probably giant squid, etc. One of the biggest prey species was Livyatan melvillei. It was a whale that was between 44 and 57 feet or 13.5 to 17.5 meters long. It was an ancestor of the modern sperm whale. Unlike modern sperm whales, Livyatan had teeth in its upper jaw AND its lower jaw. Modern sperm whales only have teeth in their lower jaw. By the way, the species name for Livyatan honors the name of Herman Melville, who wrote the book Moby Dick. Moby Dick was a giant albino Sperm Whale.    

Megalodon was thought to be around 50 feet or 15.24 meters long. That size has been upgraded to up to 80 feet long. It is also now thought to have been more torpedo-shaped. It did not look like a big Great White Shark. A find from Denmark of vertebrae shows that Megalodon may have been up to 80 feet or 24.3 meters long. It weighed up to 115 tons. It is remarkable that the vertebrae fossilized; in sharks, bones are made of cartilage. Usually, the only evidence of ancient sharks is their teeth. The find indicates that Megalodon looked more like a giant Lemon Shark rather than a giant Great White Shark.

NOTE: This drawing, in printable form, is found by clicking on the "Animals" button and scrolling down to the end of the drop-down menu. If you are accessing this page in late July or August of 2026, then this drawing's title will be at or near the end of the list.