Isurus hastalis

Isurus hastalis
Temporal range: Eocene - Pleistocene
Carcharodon hastalis
Fossil teeth of C. hastalis
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Chondrichthyes
Subclass: Elasmobranchii
Superorder: Selachimorpha
Order: Lamniformes
Family: Lamnidae
Genus: Carcharodon
Species: C. hastalis
Binomial name
Carcharodon hastalis
(Agassiz, 1843)
Synonyms

Isurus hastalis or Carcharodon hastalis, the broad-tooth white shark, is an extinct white shark that lived from the Eocene epoch to the Pleistocene epoch.[1] Its teeth can reach lengths up to 3.5 in (7.5 cm) and are found worldwide, especially in Miocene and Pliocene marine deposits.[1] It is believed to be an ancestor to the great white shark, a fact supported by the transitional species Carcharodon hubbelli,[2] and most likely would have been one of the top predators in its ecosystem; preying upon small whales and other mammals.

A study by Ehret et al. in 2012 has suggested that I. hastalis belongs to the genus Carcharodon, rather than Isurus. Fossil evidence suggests Carcharodon is derived from Carcharodon (Cosmopolitodus) hastalis. Specimens from the Piasco Formation show an evolutionary mosaic of characters between C. hastalis and C. carcharias. [3]

References


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