Alopias grandis
Temporal range: [1]
Fossilized tooth
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Chondrichthyes
Subclass: Elasmobranchii
Subdivision: Selachimorpha
Order: Lamniformes
Family: Alopiidae
Genus: Alopias
Species:
A. grandis
Binomial name
Alopias grandis
Leriche, 1942
Synonyms[2]

Alopecias grandis

Reconstruction of A. grandis (top), with megalodon (bottom) for comparison

Alopias grandis is a species of giant thresher shark from the Miocene. Estimates calculated from teeth comparisons suggest the living animal was comparable in size to the extant great white shark.[3] Remains generally consist of teeth, which have been found in the United States in the Calvert Formation of Virginia and Maryland,[4] and in Beaufort County, South Carolina.[3] They have also been found in the Miocene of Malta.[5] It is unlikely it possessed the elongated tail lobe of modern thresher sharks.[3] Some specimens in the Burdigalian show the beginnings of serrations, which are presumably transitional individuals between A. grandis and A. palatasi.[5]

References

  1. ↑ "†Alopecias grandis Leriche 1942 (mackerel shark)". The Paleobiology Database.
  2. ↑ "Alopecias grandis Leriche 1942 (mackerel shark)". PBDB.
  3. 1 2 3 Ward, D. J.; Kent, B. W. (2015). "A new giant species of thresher shark from the Miocene of the United States". Natural History Museum. doi:10.13140/RG.2.1.1723.0969. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  4. ↑ "Nomini Cliffs, Zone 14-16 (Miocene of the United States)". PBDB.
  5. 1 2 Godfrey, S. J. (Ed.). (2018). The Geology and Vertebrate Paleontology of Calvert Cliffs, Maryland, USA. Smithsonian Institution Scholarly Press.


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