Palaeocarcharodon

Palaeocarcharodon, also known as the pygmy white shark, is a genus of shark within the family Otodontidae[1] that lived about 61.7 to 55.8 Ma during the Paleocene. It currently contains a sole species P. orientalis.[2]

Palaeocarcharodon
Temporal range:
Fossil teeth of Palaeocarcharodon orientalis (the largest three) from Khouribga (Morocco), alongside teeth of Otodus
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Chondrichthyes
Superorder: Selachimorpha
Order: Lamniformes
Family: †Otodontidae
Genus: †Palaeocarcharodon
Casieer, 1960
Species:
†P. orientalis
Binomial name
†Palaeocarcharodon orientalis
(Sinzow, 1899)

Description

Teeth of Palaeocarcharodon are triangular, labio-lingually compressed, with quite irregular serrations and serrate lateral cusplets. They can reach a size of about 3–6 centimetres (1.2–2.4 in).[3]

  • Tooth of Palaeocarcharodon from Atlas mountain in Morocco. 60 mya, long 3 cm.

References
  1. Mikael Siverson; Johan Lindgren; Michael G. Newbrey; Peter Cederström; Todd D. Cook (2013). "Cenomanian–Campanian (Late Cretaceous) mid-palaeolatitude sharks of Cretalamna appendiculata type". Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. 60 (2): 339–384. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.1027.6182. doi:10.4202/app.2012.0137. S2CID 58906204.
  2. Kordikova, E. G., Polly, P. D., Alifanov, V. A., Roček, Z., Gunnell, G. F., & Averianov, A. O. (2001). "Small vertebrates from the Late Cretaceous and early Tertiary of the northeastern Aral Sea Region, Kazakhstan". Journal of Paleontology. 75 (2): 390–400. doi:10.1666/0022-3360(2001)075<0390:svftlc>2.0.co;2.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link)
  3. G. R. Case. - Palaeocarcharodon Orientalis (SINZOW) (Neoselachii: Cretoxyrhinidae), from the Paleocene of Maryland - Lab. de Paléontologie des Vertébrés, 1989


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