Otodus obliquus
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Extinct (fossil)
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| Otodus obliquus Agassiz, 1843 |
| Otodus obliquus | |
|---|---|
| Type | shark |
| Length | approx. 8-10 m |
| Weight | approx. 15-20 tonnes |
| Movement | swimming |
| Age | 45-50 million years ago |
| Diet | carnivore |
| Environment | ocean |
Otodus obliquus was a large prehistoric Mackerel Shark which lived during the Paleocene-Eocene epochs, approximately 45-55 million years ago.
Information regarding the size/diet of Otudus is gathered from fossil teeth and a few fossilized vertebral centra. Similar to all Elasmobranches, the skeleton of Otodus was comprised of cartilage and not bone, resulting in relatively few preserved skeletal structures appearing within the fossil record. The teeth however, have been found in relatively high densities within the fossil beds of Morocco. Measuring up to 4" in length, the teeth are triangular in shape, with triangular and divergent lateral cusplets suggesting Otodus's diet probably consisted of marine mammals, fish and other sharks.
Otodus obliquus is thought by many Paleontologists to be the original ancestor to the largest predatory Shark that ever lived, the megalodon. There is however another school of thought that suggests that the Megalodon was instead descended from Carcharodon orientalis and thus was the predecessor to the modern Great White Shark. Although the argument for both views is compelling, the evidence shows enough weaknesses to warrant caution in classifying Megalodon in the same genus as the modern White Shark (i.e Carcharodon) and therefore it has been reclassified, relatively recently, to reflect the mounting evidence that Otodus obliquus was the likely ancestor to the Megalodon.
