''Carcharodon'' (meaning "jagged/sharp tooth" in

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

) is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

shark Sharks are a group of elasmobranch cartilaginous fish characterized by a ribless endoskeleton, dermal denticles, five to seven gill slits on each side, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the ...

s within 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 they prefer environments with colder water. The name of the family is formed from the Greek word ...

, colloquially called the "white sharks." The only extant member is 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 ocea ...

(''Carcharodon carcharias'').

Extinct Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...

species include '' C. hubbelli'' and '' C. hastalis.'' The first appearance of the genus may have been as early as the

Early Miocene The Early Miocene (also known as Lower Miocene) is a sub-epoch of the Miocene epoch (geology), Epoch made up of two faunal stage, stages: the Aquitanian age, Aquitanian and Burdigalian stages. The sub-epoch lasted from 23.03 ± 0.05 annum, Ma to ...

Late Oligocene The Chattian is, in the geologic timescale The geologic time scale or geological time scale (GTS) is a representation of time based on the rock record of Earth. It is a system of chronological dating that uses chronostratigraphy (the pro ...

. Carcharocles megalodon is still argued by some paleontologists (e.g. Michael D. Gottfried,

Leonard Compagno Leonard Joseph Victor Compagno (1943-2024) was an international authority on shark taxonomy and the author of many scientific papers and books on the subject, best known of which is his 1984 catalogue of shark species produced for the Food and Agri ...

, and Ewan Fordyce) to be a close relative of ''Carcharodon carcharias'' - as well as being in the same genus. When Megalodon belonged to this genus it had the scientific name ''Carcharodon megalodon''. More recently, Megalodon has been assigned by most scientists to either the genus ''Carcharocles'' or ''

Otodus ''Otodus'' is an extinct, cosmopolitan genus of mackerel shark which lived from the Paleocene to the Pliocene epoch. The name ''Otodus'' comes from Ancient Greek (, meaning "ear") and (, meaning "tooth") – thus, "ear-shaped tooth". Descript ...

''.

Fossil History and Evolution

The fossil ancestry of ''Carcharodon'' is an active area of research and debate, given the dearth of the fossil record and the incompleteness of found specimens. Most ''Carcharodon'' fossil remains of are in the form of

teeth A tooth (: teeth) is a hard, calcified structure found in the jaws (or mouths) of many vertebrates and used to break down food. Some animals, particularly carnivores and omnivores, also use teeth to help with capturing or wounding prey, tear ...

, along with some

vertebral centra Each vertebra (: vertebrae) is an irregular bone with a complex structure composed of bone and some hyaline cartilage, that make up the vertebral column or spine, of vertebrates. The proportions of the vertebrae differ according to their spinal ...

. This is the norm for fossilized

Chondrichthyans Chondrichthyes (; ) is a class of jawed fish that contains the cartilaginous fish or chondrichthyans, which all have skeletons primarily composed of cartilage. They can be contrasted with the Osteichthyes or ''bony fish'', which have skeletons ...

, since a shark's

skeleton A skeleton is the structural frame that supports the body of most animals. There are several types of skeletons, including the exoskeleton, which is a rigid outer shell that holds up an organism's shape; the endoskeleton, a rigid internal fra ...

is made of

cartilage Cartilage is a resilient and smooth type of connective tissue. Semi-transparent and non-porous, it is usually covered by a tough and fibrous membrane called perichondrium. In tetrapods, it covers and protects the ends of long bones at the joints ...

and soft tissues don't preserve well. Thus, assessing relationships between fossil species relies largely on the form of their teeth. This difficulty is compounded by the incomplete fossil record of Lamnids. However, some researchers have proffered ''

Macrorhizodus ''Macrorhizodus'' is an extinct genus of mackerel shark which lived from the early Eocene to early Oligocene epoch of the Paleogene period. It is often considered ancestral to ''Isurus'' and sometimes considered part of it. ''Macrorhizodus'' is a ...

Isurolamna ''Isurolamna'' is an extinct genus of Lamnidae, mackerel shark from the Paleogene, Paleogene period. It contains at least three species and a fourth is sometimes placed in it. It is thought to be closely related to ''Macrorhizodus'', ''Isurus'', ...

,'' and ''

Cretalamna ''Cretalamna'' is a genus of extinction, extinct Otodontidae, otodontid shark that lived from the latest Early Cretaceous to Eocene epoch (about 103 to 46 million years ago). It is considered by many to be the ancestor of the largest sharks to ha ...

'' as candidates for genera ancestral to ''Carcharodon,'' taxa ranging from the

Eocene The Eocene ( ) is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (Ma). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), Era. The name ''Eocene'' comes ...

to the

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 143.1 to 66 mya (unit), million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era (geology), Era, as well as the longest. At around 77.1 million years, it is the ...

. ''Carcharodon'' is well-represented in the fossil record by the

Middle Miocene The Middle Miocene is a sub-epoch of the Miocene epoch (geology), epoch made up of two Stage (stratigraphy), stages: the Langhian and Serravallian stages. The Middle Miocene is preceded by the Early Miocene. The sub-epoch lasted from 15.97 ± 0. ...

. The first widespread, cosmopolitan species being ''C. hastalis,'' with fossils recovered from

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South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, and

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

. The modern

has been posited to have evolved from ''C. hastalis'' through a transitional species, '' C. hubbelli''. Carcharodon hastalis tooth

Study of white shark taxonomy is complicated by nomenclature and repeated taxonomic reassignments of various species. ''C. hastalis, C. subserratus,'' and '' C. planus'' traditionally were placed in ''

Isurus ''Isurus'' (meaning "equal tail") is a genus of mackerel sharks in the family Lamnidae, commonly known as the mako sharks. They are largely pelagic, and are fast, predatory fish capable of swimming at speeds of up to . Fossil history and evolu ...

'', given their superficial similarity to the teeth of mako sharks, leading many modern shark tooth collectors to still refer to these extinct species as "makos." They were later reassigned to a new genus, ''

Cosmopolitodus ''Cosmopolitodus'' is an extinct genus of mackerel shark that lived between thirty and one million years ago during the late Oligocene to the Early Pleistocene epochs. Its type species is ''Cosmopolitodus hastalis'', the broad-tooth mako (other ...

'', a genus maintained as valid in some current literature, and considered a junior synonym of ''Carcharodon'' in others. ''C. hastalis'' has also been described as two morphotypes, "broad-form" and "narrow-form," which some authors have split into two species, ''C. plicatilis (xiphodon)'' and ''C. hastalis'', respectively. '' C. subserratus'', historically known as '' C. escheri'' under the genus ''Carcharomodus'', has recently been reclassified back in to the genus ''Carcharodon'' as ''C. subserratus''. The fossil "mega-toothed" sharks like

megalodon ''Otodus megalodon'' ( ; meaning "big tooth"), Common name, commonly known as megalodon, is an extinction, extinct species of giant mackerel shark that lived approximately 23 to 3.6 million years ago (Mya), from the Early Miocene to the Earl ...

have also traditionally been placed in ''Carcharodon'', but most current literature refutes this position, placing mega-toothed sharks in a separate family,

Otodontidae Otodontidae is an extinct family of sharks belonging to the order Lamniformes. Its members have been described as megatoothed sharks. They lived from the Early Cretaceous to the Pliocene, and included genera such as '' Otodus,'' including the gi ...

, and genus, ''

'' (''Carcharocles''). ''Carcharodon caifassii'' is the other species in genus ''Carcharodon''. It is a debated species, and is considered dubious. It lived in the

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first epoch (geology), geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and mea ...

and

Pliocene The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch (geology), epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.33 to 2.58great 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 ocea ...

(''Carcharodon carcharias'').

Species

* ''

Carcharodon carcharias 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 ocea ...

'' (

Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...

1758 Events January–March * January 1 – Swedish biologist Carl Linnaeus (Carl von Linné) publishes in Stockholm the first volume (''Animalia'') of the 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae'', the starting point of modern zoologic ...

) (the great white shark) *†'' Carcharodon carcharias-f'' (Lawley, 1876) *†''

Carcharodon hubbelli ''Carcharodon hubbelli'', also known as Hubbell's white shark, is an extinct species of white shark that evolved between 8 and 5 million years ago during the Late Miocene to Early Pliocene epochs. This shark is a transitional species, showing i ...

'' (Ehret ''et al.'', 2012) (Hubbell's white shark) *†'' Carcharodon hastalis''? (Agassiz, 1843)Agassiz, L. J. R. 1833–1844. Recherches sur les poisons fossiles. Text (5 vols; I., xlix + 188 pp., II xii + 310 + 366 pp., III viii+390pp., IV xvi+296pp., V xii+122+160pp.) and Atlas. Imprimerie de Petitpierre, Neuchâtel. *†'' Carcharodon planus''? (Agassiz, 1856) *† ''Carcharodon subserratus'' (''escheri'')? (Agassiz, 1843) *†''Carcharodon plicatilis (xiphodon)''? (Agassiz, 1843) *†''Carcharodon caifassii'' (Lawley, 1876)

References

{{Authority control Taxa named by Andrew Smith (zoologist) Shark genera Fish genera with one living species