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If megalodons behaved like other large predatory sharks, her male mate likely remained apart and independent.
如果巨齿鲨的行为像其他大型捕食性鲨鱼一样，那么它的雄性配偶很可能会保持独立。
While he is still larger than the great white sharks we know today, he is only about half the female’s size.
虽然他仍然比我们今天所知的大白鲨要大，但他只有雌性巨齿鲨的一半大小。
Among megalodons, if sheer size was any indication, females rule.
在巨齿鲨中，如果单纯看体型指标，那么女性占主导地位。
The cycle of mating, birth, and hunting continued in these shallow seas until about 2.6 million years ago.
在这片浅海中，交配、生育和狩猎的循环一直持续到大约260万年前。
In the time of the megalodons, continents drifted together.
在巨齿鲨时代，大陆漂移在一起。
Sea currents and sea levels changed.
海流和海平面发生了变化。
The abundance of prey rose and fell throughout megalodon’s reign.
在巨齿鲨统治期间，猎物的数量起伏不定。
But as the Pliocene epoch went on, sharks became more competitive, possibly even quicker and more agile.
但随着上新世时代的继续，鲨鱼变得更具竞争力，甚至可能更快、更敏捷。
These factors, and perhaps others, spelled the end of the megalodon.
这些因素，或许还有其他因素，都预示着巨齿鲨的终结。
Why is there so little material evidence of megalodons today?
为什么今天关于巨齿鲨的物质证据如此之少？
Well, they were sharks, and all sharks are cartilaginous fish.
它们是鲨鱼，所有的鲨鱼都是软骨鱼类。
Megalodon skeletons had few hard bones, and were mostly cartilage.
巨齿鲨的骨骼几乎没有硬骨，主要是软骨。
A dinosaur leaves bones when it dies.
恐龙死后会留下骨头。
Bones enable one to estimate a body’s size, structure and function.
骨骼使人能够估计身体的大小、结构和功能。
But since sharks’ skeletons are almost totally cartilage, and cartilage decomposes easily after death, almost nothing of a megalodon is left behind.
但由于鲨鱼的骨骼几乎完全是软骨，而且软骨在死后很容易分解，所以巨齿鲨几乎什么也没留下。
Shark teeth, however, fossilize easily.
然而，鲨鱼的牙齿很容易变成化石。
So scientists use fossil megalodon teeth to estimate other details about the animals.
因此，科学家们利用巨齿鲨的牙齿化石来估计这种动物的其他细节。
The enormous size of megalodon teeth, compared to teeth of living sharks, is a significant reason why scientists think the megalodon was so large.
与现存鲨鱼的牙齿相比，巨齿鲨牙齿的巨大尺寸是科学家认为巨齿鲨会如此巨大的一个重要原因。
But fossil teeth paint an incomplete picture of this magnificent animal, and the scarcity of other hard evidence continues to challenge scientists.
但是，牙齿化石描绘的这一壮观动物的画面并不完整，其他确凿证据的匮乏继续挑战着科学家们。
For now, some ideas about the megalodon are based on assumptions of how it could have resembled today’s sharks in form, ecology, and behavior.
目前，关于巨齿鲨的一些想法是基于它在形态、生态和行为上可能与今天的鲨鱼相似的假设。
