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 Posted: Thu Mar 12, 2009 8:52 pm
 Journal and Information for Darcy & Kabibe Akuji (La Merwaffle). Please do not post in this thread if you are not the Guardian, or the Guardian has said you could.
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Posted: Thu Mar 12, 2009 9:07 pm
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Posted: Fri Mar 13, 2009 8:53 pm
Name: Darcy Alaric Akuji
Meaning:
||||||Darcy - Celtic: Dark one French: Dark Haired Irish: Fortress
||||||Alaric - German: He who rule/Noble ruler
||||||Akuji - African: Dead and Awake
Alias: Darcy. That's it.
Born on: March 24
Age: Child, but acts more like a rebelious teenager.
Height: HUGE
Weight: Also huge, but just a healthy weight to his height.
Species: Megaladon
Gender: Male
Sexuality: Straight
Status: Single
Favorite Color: Navy blue and dark colors.
Favorite Animal: That he doesn't want to eat? Probably a .....
Favorite Scents: He likes the smell of the steak thing that Kabibe brings him ocassionally. His favorite is probably that pretty flower perfume stuff ladies wear.
Hated Scents: Gasoline. Period.
Favorite Food: Yellowfin tuna.
Hated Food: Vegetables and thoughs shell fish things.
Likes: Quiet,
Dislikes: Jelly fish, poisonious things, gasoline, nets, loud people, nosey people, probably many more things.
Parents
Mother: (Adoptive) Kabibe Akaji
Father: N/A
Family: None other than Kabibe right now.
Companion: Currently none.
Appearance: Darcy is a big boy. Not fat. Just.... big. He towers over most adults, even as a child and weights over two hundred pounds already. His teeth are just like that of a sharks; they are sharp, pointy, and gorw back instantly. The boy's sandpaper like skin can hurt if you rub it the wrong way. Gills are located on the side of his body, almost right over his ribs and he has Great white coloring.
Tattoos/Piercings/Markings/Jewelry: None as of now, but he seems like the type to have some later.
Personality:
Strengths:
Weaknesses:
Weapon of Choice:
Theme song:
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Posted: Mon Mar 16, 2009 8:26 pm
Name: Kabibe Akuji (No middle name)
Meaning:
||||||Kabibe - African:
||||||Akuji - African: Dead and Awake
Alias: Kabibe, Bobby.
Born on: November 2nd
Age: 24
Height: 5'9"
Weight: 139; She's not self concious.
Species: Human; has shaman skils.
Gender: Female
Sexuality: Straight
Status: Single
Favorite Color: Gold
Favorite Animal: Lioness.
Favorite Scents: Walnut, bamboo.
Hated Scents: City smells. Unnatural scents.
Favorite Food: Steak and most meats.
Hated Food:
Likes: Sparring, her bow and arrow,
Dislikes:
Parents
Mother:
Father:
Family:
Companion:
Appearance:
Tattoos/Piercings/Markings/Jewelry:
Personality:
Strengths:
Weaknesses:
Weapon of Choice:
Theme song:
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Posted: Tue Mar 17, 2009 12:42 pm
The megalodon ("big tooth" in Greek), Carcharodon megalodon or Carcharocles megalodon (in dispute), was a giant shark that lived in prehistoric times. The oldest remains of this species found are about 18 million years old and C. megalodon became extinct in the Pleistocene epoch probably about 1.5 million years ago. It was the apex predator of its time and is the largest carnivorous fish known to have existed.
C. megalodon could grow to more than 18 metres (59 ft) long and is also quite possibly the largest shark ever to have lived. From scrutiny of its remains, scientists conclude that C. megalodon belongs to the order Lamniformes. However, scientists are still debating which genus would be most appropriate for C. megalodon from the two proposed. Fossil evidence has revealed that megalodon fed upon large marine animals.
Fossils
As with all other prehistoric sharks, the megalodon skeleton was formed of cartilage and not bone, resulting in mostly poorly preserved fossil specimens.
Fossil teeth
The most common fossils of C. megalodon are its teeth. The teeth are morphologically similar to great white shark teeth but are more robust, more regularly serrated, and are much larger, exceeding 18 cm in slant height.
Fossil Range
The fossils of C. megalodon have been excavated from many parts of the world, including Europe, North America, South America, Puerto Rico, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Africa, Malta, and India.
Anatomy and appearance
Size estimation
The largest fossils indicate that C. megalodon likely approached or exceeded 18.2 metres (60 ft). A massive upper anterior C. megalodon tooth was discovered and excavated, which has a slant height of 184 mm (7.25 inch) and has a root width of over 5.5 inch (13.97 cm). According to size estimation method, it indicates a body length of more than 19.1 metres (63 ft). To date, reports of even larger C. megalodon teeth persist.
It is widely acknowledged that C. megalodon could have grown up to 18 metres (59 ft) or more, with a body mass of 70 metric tons (77 short tons) or more.
Skeletal Anatomy
Aside from estimating the size of C. megalodon, Gottfried and his colleagues also have tried to reconstruct and entire skeleton of C. megalodon. After conducting a comprehensive analysis of the fossilized remains of C. megalodon, they concluded that C. megalodon was a very robust shark and it was more massively proportioned than any other large shark including C. carcharias due to several reasons including:
In order to functionally support a massive and very robust dentition, C. megalodon most likely had a massive, stouter and more strongly developed chondrocranium than those of modern macropredatory sharks.
The fins of C. megalodon were most likely significantly larger and thicker because they needed to be adapted for propulsion and control of movements of such a massive shark.
It had a higher vertebral count than that of any large shark including C. carcharias.
Distribution and range
The fossil records of C. megalodon indicate that it was a warm water pelagic fish and it thrived in all the oceans of the world in its time. The oceans were noticeably warmer during the Miocene and early Pliocene.
Paleoecology
Prey relationships
An artistic depiction of a Megalodon chasing two juvenile blue whalesThere is evidence that C. megalodon preyed on whales (e.g. sperm whales, bowhead whales, Cetotherium, and Odobenocetops), sirenians, dolphins, porpoises, pinnipeds, and giant sea turtles. Whales were likely an important prey item for C. megalodon as many whale bones (including vertebrae and flippers) have been found with clear signs of large bite marks made by the teeth that match those of C. megalodon, and various excavations have revealed C. megalodon teeth lying close to the chewed remains of whales.
Hunting Behavior
Most sharks are opportunistic predators and rely on a broad spectrum of prey coupled with scavenging. C. megalodon was unlikely to have been an exception to this rule. Some large sharks (including the great white shark) employ ambush strategies against their prey during hunting. Such sharks usually attack their prey with great force in the first attempt to inflict maximum possible damage and wait for the prey to get weakened due to massive blood loss before dispatching the prey without facing any resistance. Some paleontologists suggest that C. megalodon also may have employed a similar hunting strategy against large potential prey such as whales. The teeth of C. megalodon are serrated, which would have improved efficiency in slicing the flesh of prey items.
However, remains of a prehistoric baleen whale excavated from Chesapeake Bay suggest that the attacking behavior of C. megalodon may have been more aggressive and possibly different from that of the great white shark and other large sharks. Based on this first opportunity to quantitatively analyse the feeding behavior of C. megalodon, it appears that the shark focused its attack on the bony portions of the prey, which great white sharks generally avoid. The exceptionally robust teeth of C. megalodon were not just good cutting tools but also were well suited for grasping powerful prey and would seldom crack even when slicing through the bones. Additionally, the fossil evidence indicates that C. megalodon likely delivered a killer bite on the part of the body of the whale where rib cage was present. The victim may have died quickly due to massive internal injuries as a result. Remains of another victim of the C. megalodon have been found which indicate that it was also attacked in a similar ferocious manner. A team of scientists determine the bite force of the C. megalodon and concluded that it was capable of exerting a bite force which could reach as high as 40,000 pounds per square inch (over 5 times greater than that of T-Rex), arguably making the giant shark one of the most formidable predators to have ever inhabited the oceans.
In addition, several fossilized flipper bones, and caudal vertebrae of whales have been found with bite marks that were caused by the attacks from C. megalodon. This evidence indicates that C. megalodon most likely injured and immobilized its prey by ripping apart or biting off its propulsive structures, before proceeding to kill and feed on it.
Extinction
It is not yet absolutely clear how an apex predator like C. megalodon suddenly went extinct after millions of years of existence and dominance, however two main factors believed to be involved are: climatic upheavals and shortage of food.
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Posted: Tue Mar 17, 2009 12:46 pm
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Posted: Tue Mar 17, 2009 12:51 pm
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Posted: Tue Mar 17, 2009 1:15 pm
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Posted: Tue Mar 17, 2009 1:19 pm
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Posted: Tue Mar 17, 2009 5:41 pm
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Posted: Fri Mar 27, 2009 5:39 pm
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Posted: Fri Mar 27, 2009 5:50 pm
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Posted: Fri Mar 27, 2009 5:58 pm
Hmm... How many do we have?
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Posted: Fri Mar 27, 2009 6:08 pm
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Posted: Fri Mar 27, 2009 6:21 pm
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Reply
