Carcharocles/Carcharodon auriculatus
While the species is valid, the genus this shark belongs too is disputed, refer to the main text for details.Name:
Carcharocles/Carcharodon auriculatus.
Phonetic: Kar-ka-roe-clees/Kar-ka-roe-don
or-ree-cu-la-tus.
Named By: Jordan - 1923.
Synonyms: Otodus subserratus,
Carcharocles auriculata.
Classification: Chordata, Chondrichthyes,
Elasmobranchii, Lamniformes.
Species: C. auriculatus.
Diet: Carnivore.
Size: Uuncertain.
Known locations: USA, South Carolina.
Time period: Eocene.
Fossil representation: Usually just teeth.
Although
C. auriculatus is usually placed within the Carcharocles
genus,
some researchers think that a placement within the Carcharodon
genus
would be more correct. This debate has been on-going for quite a
considerable time and also includes Carcharocles
angustidens, Carcharocles
chubentensis and even the famous C.
megalodon
(often referred
simply to as Megalodon). All of these shark
species are often
referred to as the 'megatoothed sharks' because of their large
sizes and triangular serrated teeth. It is this superficial
similarity with the teeth of the great white shark that we know today
that had them originally placed within the Carcharodon
genus. However
closer study of the teeth has discovered several differences between
the megatoothed sharks and the great white. Strong evidence for both
placements exists, and to which genus the species belong to is often
down to how an individual researcher interprets the available fossil
evidence.
Although
the teeth of C. auriculatus are mostly known from
South Carolina,
it may have still had a more cosmopolitan distribution like other
megatoothed sharks. Size estimates for C. auriculatus
are not
common place but as a 'megatoothed shark' it was likely to have
been considerably larger than a modern great white, perhaps
approaching nine meters in length like its presumed ancestor Otodus
obliquus.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Random favourites
 |
 |
|