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Great White Shark
The great white shark may be the closest living relative to the megalodon shark. Megalodon's initial classification puts it within the same family (Lamnidae) and genus (Carcharodon) as the great white shark. With this scenario it is possible the great white actually descended directly from megalodon. Paleontologists John Maisey, Shelton Applegate and Robert Purdy all consider megalodon a member of the Lamnidae family and Carcharodon genus.
However, the other leading scientific school of thought, which includes paleontologists John Long, Henri Cappetta, David Ward and Mikael Siverson, places the great white shark and megalodon in both separate genera and families. In their scenario, the megalodon shark and great white are still related (they are both still in the Lamniformes order of sharks) but much more distantly so.
The great white shark averages about 12 to 16 feet long and occupies coastal waters around the world.
Lamnidae
If the megalodon belongs to the Carcharodon genus of Lamnidae sharks, it is also closely related to the other sharks of the Lamnidae family. Aside from the Carcharodon genus, which includes only the great white and megalodon sharks, Lamnidae includes two other genera: Isurus and Lamna. And each of these genera includes two species of shark, the shortfin mako and the longfin mako are both members of the Isurus genus.
The common shortfin mako grows to around 6 to 8 feet and occupies warm and tropical oceanic waters around the world. The much rarer longfin mako grows to about the same length and occupies similar waters as the shortfin mako, but at much greater depths. The Lamna genus includes the salmon shark, a 7-foot species that lives in the North Pacific, and the porbeagle, a 6-foot shark that occupies cool oceanic waters all over the world (in addition to one recorded instance of brackish water inhabitance).
Lamniformes
Although the two leading schools of scientific thought place megalodon in different genera and families, both place it within the same order of sharks -- Lamniformes. Lamniformes are distinguished by several common characteristics, including sets of five gill slits, two spineless dorsal fins, long snouts and large mouths that extend behind the eyes. The Lamniformes order contains 15 shark species, including the basking shark, megamouth shark, crocodile shark and goblin shark.