''Isurus'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

mackerel shark The Lamniformes (, from Greek ''lamna'' "fish of prey") are an order of sharks commonly known as mackerel sharks (which may also refer specifically to the family Lamnidae). It includes some of the most familiar species of sharks, such as the gr ...

s in the family

Lamnidae The Lamnidae are the family of mackerel sharks known as white sharks. They are large, fast-swimming predatory fish found in oceans worldwide, though prefer environments with colder water. The name of the family is formed from the Greek word ''la ...

, commonly known as the mako sharks.

Description

The two living species are the common

shortfin mako shark The shortfin mako shark (; ; ''Isurus oxyrinchus''), also known as the blue pointer or bonito shark, is a large mackerel shark. It is commonly referred to as the mako shark, as is the longfin mako shark (''Isurus paucus''). The shortfin mako can ...

(''I. oxyrinchus'') and the rare longfin mako shark (''I. paucus''). They range in length from , and have an approximate maximum weight of . They both have a distinctive blue-gray color scheme common among mackerel sharks. Several extinct species are known from fossils found in sediments from the

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of ...

to the Quaternary (age range: 99.7 to 0.781 million years ago).Fossilworks
/ref> The family Lamnidae also includes the

great white shark The great white shark (''Carcharodon carcharias''), also known as the white shark, white pointer, or simply great white, is a species of large Lamniformes, mackerel shark which can be found in the coastal surface waters of all the major ocean ...

and the

porbeagle The porbeagle (''Lamna nasus'') is a species of mackerel shark in the family Lamnidae, distributed widely in the cold and temperate marine waters of the North Atlantic and Southern Hemisphere. In the North Pacific, its ecological equivalent is ...

. Mako sharks are capable of swimming at speeds up to . The great white shark is also closely related to an ancient mako shark species, ''Isurus hastalis''. However, fossil evidence suggests ''I. hastalis'', like the great white shark, also belonged to the genus ''

Carcharodon ''Carcharodon'' () is a genus of sharks within the family Lamnidae. The only extant member is the great white shark (''Carcharodon carcharias''). Hubell's white shark ('' Carcharodon hubbelli'') is an extinct member of this genus. Megalodon ...

''.

Species

The genus contains these species: * '' Isurus oxyrinchus'' (

Rafinesque Constantine Samuel Rafinesque-Schmaltz (; October 22, 1783September 18, 1840) was a French 19th-century polymath born near Constantinople in the Ottoman Empire and self-educated in France. He traveled as a young man in the United States, ultimat ...

, 1810) (shortfin mako shark) * '' Isurus paucus'' ( Guitart-Manday, 1966) (longfin mako shark)Tony Ayling & Geoffrey Cox, ''Collins Guide to the Sea Fishes of New Zealand'', William Collins Publishers Ltd, Auckland, New Zealand 1982 *†'' Isurus desori'' ( Agassiz, 1843) *†'' Isurus escheri'' Agassiz 1843 (serrated mako shark) *†'' Isurus flandricus'' (Leriche, 1910) *†'' Isurus minutus'' (Agassiz, 1843) *†''

Isurus nakaminatoensis ''Isurus'' is a genus of mackerel sharks in the family Lamnidae, commonly known as the mako sharks. Description The two living species are the common shortfin mako shark (''I. oxyrinchus'') and the rare longfin mako shark (''I. paucus''). They ...

'' (Saito, 1961) *†''

Isurus planus ''Cosmopolitodus planus'', also known as the hooked-tooth mako shark or hooked mako shark, is an extinct lamnid that lived during the Miocene epoch from 23 to 5 million years ago. ''C. planus'' can be found only in marine deposits on the Pacific ...

'' (Agassiz, 1856) (hooked-tooth mako shark) *†''

Isurus praecursor ''Isurus'' is a genus of mackerel sharks in the family Lamnidae, commonly known as the mako sharks. Description The two living species are the common shortfin mako shark (''I. oxyrinchus'') and the rare longfin mako shark (''I. paucus''). They ...

'' (Leriche, 1905) *†''

Isurus rameshi ''Isurus'' is a genus of mackerel sharks in the family Lamnidae, commonly known as the mako sharks. Description The two living species are the common shortfin mako shark (''I. oxyrinchus'') and the rare longfin mako shark (''I. paucus''). They ...

'' (Mehrotra, Mishra & Srivastava, 1973) *†''

Isurus spallanzani ''Isurus'' is a genus of mackerel sharks in the family Lamnidae, commonly known as the mako sharks. Description The two living species are the common shortfin mako shark (''I. oxyrinchus'') and the rare longfin mako shark (''I. paucus''). They ...

'' Rafinesque 1810 Lamnidae - Isurus hastalis

References

{{Authority control Extant Late Cretaceous first appearances Taxa named by Constantine Samuel Rafinesque Shark genera

Description

Species

See also

References