Otodus auriculatus
| Otodus auriculatus | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Teeth from Craven County, North Carolina | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Chondrichthyes |
| Subclass: | Elasmobranchii |
| Division: | Selachii |
| Order: | Lamniformes |
| Family: | †Otodontidae |
| Genus: | †Otodus |
| Species: | †O. auriculatus |
| Binomial name | |
| †Otodus auriculatus Blainville, 1818 | |
| Subspecies | |
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| Synonyms | |
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Otodus auriculatus is an extinct species of large shark in the genus Otodus of the family Otodontidae[1] and is a predecessor of the megalodon. The largest individuals were about 9.5 metres (31 ft) long and teeth can reach up to 130 millimetres (5.1 in). Its teeth were the first in the genus Otodus to have both coarse serrations on the cutting edge and lateral cusplets.
Size
O. auriculatus was a large lamniform shark, with the largest individuals reaching a body length of 9.5 metres (31 ft).[2] The tooth length of O. auriculatus is relatively large - from 25 to 114 millimetres (0.98 to 4.49 in).[3] However, it is smaller than that of megalodon and Otodus angustidens; the tooth length of O. megalodon is 38 to 178 millimetres (1.5 to 7.0 in) and O. angustidens 25 to 117 millimetres (0.98 to 4.61 in).[3] Smaller individuals were about 4 metres (13 ft) long.[4]
Distribution
Most O. auriculatus teeth come from South Carolina and North Carolina.[3] However, many Eocene shark teeth are known from Khouribga Plateau, in Morocco and Seymour Island, in Antarctica. Fossil teeth have also been found in the United Kingdom and Kazakhstan, and the shark enjoyed a fairly global distribution.[5] A single tooth is known from Egypt.[6]
References
- ↑ Shimada, K.; Chandler, R. E.; Lam, O. L. T.; Tanaka, T.; Ward, D. J. (2016). "A new elusive otodontid shark (Lamniformes: Otodontidae) from the lower Miocene, and comments on the taxonomy of otodontid genera, including the 'megatoothed' clade". Historical Biology. 29 (5): 1–11. doi:10.1080/08912963.2016.1236795. S2CID 89080495.
- ↑ Kast, Emma R.; Griffiths, Michael L.; Kim, Sora. L.; Rao, Zixuan C.; Shimada, Kensu; Becker, Martin A.; Maisch, Harry M.; Eagle, Robert A.; Clarke, Chelesia A.; Neumann, Allison N.; Karnes, Molly E.; Lüdecke, Tina; Leichliter, Jennifer N.; Martínez-García, Alfredo; Akhtar, Alliya A.; Wang, Xingchen T.; Haug, Gerald H.; Sigman, Daniel M. (22 June 2022). "Cenozoic megatooth sharks occupied extremely high trophic positions". Science Advances. 8 (25) eabl6529. Bibcode:2022SciA....8L6529K. doi:10.1126/sciadv.abl6529. PMC 9217088. PMID 35731884.
- 1 2 3 Joe Cocke (2001). Fossil Shark Teeth of the World.
- ↑ Trif, N.; Ciobanu, R.; Vlad, C.A. (2016). "The first record of the giant shark Otodus megalodon (Agassiz, 1835) from Romania". Brukenthal. Acta Musei. 11 (3): 507–526.
- ↑ Fossil Teeth (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-03-27. Retrieved 2011-07-18.
- ↑ H. J. van Vliet and G. A. el Khair. (2010). "A new Eocene marine mammal site in the Qattara depression (Egypt)". Cainozoic Research.