Cosmopolitodus

Cosmopolitodus
Temporal range: Rupelian-Calabrian, 30–1.07 Ma [1][2]
Tooth series of C. hastalis
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Chondrichthyes
Subclass: Elasmobranchii
Order: Lamniformes
Family: Lamnidae
Genus: †Cosmopolitodus
Glikman, 1964
Type species
†Cosmopolitodus hastalis
Agassiz, 1843
Species
  • †C. hastalis (Agassiz, 1843)
  • †C. planus Agassiz, 1856
Synonyms
  • Carcharodon hastalis (Agassiz, 1843)
  • Isurus hastalis (Agassiz, 1843)
  • Isurus xiphodon (Agassiz, 1843)
  • Oxyrhina hastalis (Agassiz, 1843)
  • Oxyrhina xiphodon (Agassiz, 1843)
  • Oxyrhina plana (Agassiz, 1856)
  • Isurus planus (Jordan, 1907)

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 common names include the extinct giant mako and broad-tooth white shark). In 2021, Isurus planus was reassigned to the genus, and thus became the second species C. planus.[3] However, some researchers still consider both species of Cosmopolitodus as species of Carcharodon.[4]

Its teeth can reach lengths up to 3.5 in (7.5 cm) and are found worldwide.[5] It is believed to be an ancestor to the great white shark, an argument supported by the transitional species Carcharodon hubbelli,[6][7] but as of 2021, no phylogenetic analyses have been done for proof.[3]

  1. ^ Klug, S.; Kriwet, J., "Skeletal remains of the Miocene lamniform shark, Cosmopolitodus hastalis, from Peru" (PDF), Erlanger Geologische Abhandlungen, 6: 99
  2. ^ Ebersole, J.A.; Ebersole, S.M.; Cicimurri, D.J. (2017). "The occurrence of early Pleistocene marine fish remains from the Gulf Coast of Mobile County, Alabama, USA". Palaeodiversity. 10 (1): 97–115. doi:10.18476/pale.v10.a6. S2CID 134476316.
  3. ^ a b Yun, C. (2021). "A tooth of the extinct lamnid shark, Cosmopolitodus planus comb. nov. (Chondrichthyes, Elasmobranchii) from the Miocene of Pohang City, South Korea" (PDF). Acta Palaeontologica Romaniae. 18 (1): 9–16. doi:10.35463/j.apr.2022.01.02. S2CID 242113412.
  4. ^ Zevallos-Valdivia, L.; Martínez-Pérez, C.; García-Flores, V.; Chávez-Valencia, A.; Botella, H. (2023). "First record of palaeozoic vertebrates from Peru". Spanish Journal of Palaeontology. 38 (1): 95–100. doi:10.7203/sjp.25691. S2CID 256585278.
  5. ^ "Carcharodon hastalis Agassiz 1843 (white shark)". Fossilworks. Retrieved December 17, 2021.
  6. ^ Crumpton, Nick (November 14, 2012). "Great whites 'not from megashark'". BBC News.
  7. ^ Dana J. Ehret; Bruce J. Macfadden; Douglas S. Jones; Thomas J. Devries; David A. Foster; Rodolfo Salas-Gismondi (2012). "Origin of the white shark Carcharodon (Lamniformes: Lamnidae) based on recalibration of the Upper Neogene Pisco Formation of Peru". Palaeontology. 55 (6): 1139–1153. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-4983.2012.01201.x.