Alopias

Thresher sharks are large mackerel sharks of the family Alopiidae found in all temperate and tropical oceans of the world; the family contains three extant species, all within the genus Alopias.

Alopias

Pierre Pericard · CC BY 4.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Also called
thresher sharkPBDB
Sits inside
AlopiidaePBDB
Diet
carnivorePBDB, for Lamniformes
Life habit
nektonicPBDB, for Lamniformes
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Lamniformes

Time the record covers

At least 48 million years on record.

The record covers at least 48.07 Mya to 11.7 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 56 Mya to 0 Mya.

Paleocene — about 0 of 154 occurrencesEocene — about 43 of 154 occurrencesEoceneOligocene — about 21 of 154 occurrencesOligoceneMiocene — about 71 of 154 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 13 of 154 occurrencesPleistocene — about 5 of 154 occurrences57–55 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences55–53 Mya — about 1 occurrence53–51 Mya — about 1 occurrence51–50 Mya — about 1 occurrence50–48 Mya — about 2 occurrences48–46 Mya — about 4 occurrences46–44 Mya — about 4 occurrences44–42 Mya — about 4 occurrences42–40 Mya — about 3 occurrences40–38 Mya — about 3 occurrences38–36 Mya — about 8 occurrences36–34 Mya — about 10 occurrences34–32 Mya — about 6 occurrences32–30 Mya — about 5 occurrences30–29 Mya — about 5 occurrences29–27 Mya — about 4 occurrences27–25 Mya — about 1 occurrence25–23 Mya — about 2 occurrences23–21 Mya — about 7 occurrences21–19 Mya — about 8 occurrences19–17 Mya — about 9 occurrences17–15 Mya — about 9 occurrences15–13 Mya — about 11 occurrences13–11 Mya — about 14 occurrences11–9.5 Mya — about 4 occurrences9.5–7.6 Mya — about 4 occurrences7.6–5.7 Mya — about 4 occurrences5.7–3.8 Mya — about 8 occurrences3.8–1.9 Mya — about 7 occurrences1.9–0 Mya — about 5 occurrences48.07 Mya11.7 ka57 Mya0 Mya

154 occurrences of Alopias on record, most of them in the Miocene. The Paleobiology Database records this as a living group. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

154 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

70 formations

Gehannam — 29.31°N, 30.18°EGehannam — 29.36°N, 30.16°EGehannam — 29.33°N, 30.08°ECalvert — 38.17°N, 76.81°WCalvert — 37.93°N, 77.51°WCalvert — 38.55°N, 76.52°WBirket Qarun — 29.27°N, 30.06°EBirket Qarun — 29.27°N, 30.01°EChucunaque — 9.13°N, 78.75°WMarnes de Donzacq — 43.75°N, 0.84°WJewett — 35.49°N, 118.85°WMenilite — 49.49°N, 17.79°EMenilite — 49.20°N, 17.20°EQasr el-Sagha — 29.32°N, 30.05°EQasr el-Sagha — 29.29°N, 29.99°EGlobigerina Limestone — 36.08°N, 14.24°EGlobigerina Limestone — 35.90°N, 14.33°EChilcatay — 14.62°S, 75.63°WBerchem — 51.20°N, 4.44°ECantaure — 11.94°N, 70.02°WMenilite — 49.97°N, 21.80°EMenilite — 49.83°N, 22.17°EMenilite — 49.54°N, 22.30°EBoom Clay — 51.19°N, 4.32°EBoom Clay — 51.09°N, 4.40°EBoom — 51.09°N, 4.36°ESelsey — 50.80°N, 1.21°WPungo River — 35.40°N, 76.80°WWadi Esh-Shallala — 31.57°N, 37.12°EWadi Esh-Shallala — 30.85°N, 35.85°ERzehakia — 48.33°N, 14.30°EPalos Verdes Sand — 33.66°N, 117.90°WPalos Verdes Sand — 33.99°N, 118.45°WEsbarrondadoiro — 38.11°N, 8.36°WEsbarrondadoiro — 39.30°N, 8.12°WJoe's River — 13.22°N, 59.55°WTavda — 44.78°N, 33.86°ELillebælt Clay — 55.60°N, 9.80°E

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Alopias has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 46 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 35 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Alopias and its relatives

Miocene

Where Alopias and its relatives were recorded in the Miocene.

Found in the same rock

2,241 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 118 sites for Alopias, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

89 references

Each of the 154 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. 77 further references are not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content2

Picture of Alopias

Credit
Pierre Pericard
Licence
CC BY 4.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

CT scan

Licence
In Copyright
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record
Specimen
Alopias vulpinus · LACM:Fish:36227.001

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itAlopiidae through timeFormations of the MioceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Rafinesque 1810