Carcharhinus

Carcharhinus is the type genus of the family Carcharhinidae. One of 10 genera in its family, it contains over half of the species therein. It contains 36-38 extant and eight extinct species to date, with likely more species yet to be described.

Carcharhinus

Albert kok · CC BY-SA 3.0 · 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
Sits inside
CarcharhinidaePBDB
Diet
carnivorePBDB, for Carcharhiniformes
Life habit
nektonicPBDB, for Carcharhiniformes
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Carcharhiniformes

Time the record covers

At least 41 million years on record.

The record covers at least 41.03 Mya to 11.7 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 56 Mya to 0 Mya.

Paleocene — about 0 of 907 occurrencesEocene — about 127 of 907 occurrencesEoceneOligocene — about 56 of 907 occurrencesOligoceneMiocene — about 534 of 907 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 119 of 907 occurrencesPleistocene — about 63 of 907 occurrences57–55 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences55–53 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences53–51 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences51–50 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences50–48 Mya — about 2 occurrences48–46 Mya — about 8 occurrences46–44 Mya — about 8 occurrences44–42 Mya — about 8 occurrences42–40 Mya — about 14 occurrences40–38 Mya — about 19 occurrences38–36 Mya — about 29 occurrences36–34 Mya — about 32 occurrences34–32 Mya — about 13 occurrences32–30 Mya — about 9 occurrences30–29 Mya — about 9 occurrences29–27 Mya — about 9 occurrences27–25 Mya — about 11 occurrences25–23 Mya — about 13 occurrences23–21 Mya — about 27 occurrences21–19 Mya — about 42 occurrences19–17 Mya — about 48 occurrences17–15 Mya — about 51 occurrences15–13 Mya — about 62 occurrences13–11 Mya — about 77 occurrences11–9.5 Mya — about 70 occurrences9.5–7.6 Mya — about 65 occurrences7.6–5.7 Mya — about 74 occurrences5.7–3.8 Mya — about 99 occurrences3.8–1.9 Mya — about 44 occurrences1.9–0 Mya — about 62 occurrences41.03 Mya11.7 ka57 Mya0 Mya

907 occurrences of Carcharhinus 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

907 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

211 formations

Chucunaque — 9.13°N, 78.75°WChucunaque — 9.15°N, 78.79°WPirabas — 1.21°S, 47.16°WPirabas — 0.48°S, 48.17°WPirabas — 1.05°S, 47.16°WPirabas — 0.60°S, 47.31°WPirabas — 0.73°S, 47.49°WPirabas — 0.63°S, 47.54°WUrumaco — 11.25°N, 70.28°WUrumaco — 11.24°N, 70.25°WGatun — 9.35°N, 79.80°WGatun — 9.35°N, 79.84°WGatun — 9.34°N, 79.88°WPisco — 14.56°S, 75.67°WPisco — 15.44°S, 74.87°WPisco — 15.56°S, 74.69°WPisco — 14.34°S, 75.91°WCantaure — 11.97°N, 70.02°WCantaure — 11.94°N, 70.02°WLagos-Portimão — 37.08°N, 8.28°WLagos-Portimão — 37.12°N, 8.54°WLagos-Portimão — 37.08°N, 8.67°WGehannam — 29.32°N, 30.07°EGehannam — 29.32°N, 30.17°EGehannam — 29.30°N, 30.05°ESeria — 4.81°N, 114.67°EArenas de Huelva — 37.35°N, 6.61°WArenas de Huelva — 37.33°N, 6.68°WArenas de Huelva — 37.27°N, 6.84°WArenas de Huelva — 37.22°N, 7.10°WCalvert — 37.93°N, 77.51°WCalvert — 38.60°N, 76.51°WCalvert — 38.54°N, 76.70°WCalvert — 38.38°N, 76.99°WCalvert — 38.40°N, 76.50°WCalvert — 38.17°N, 76.81°WCalvert — 39.20°N, 75.60°WMalembo — 5.34°S, 12.18°EMalembo — 5.36°S, 12.18°EBirket Qarun — 29.27°N, 30.06°EBirket Qarun — 29.27°N, 30.01°EBirket Qarun — 29.50°N, 30.56°EBirket Qarun — 29.45°N, 30.36°EBermont — 27.70°N, 82.50°WMidawara — 29.03°N, 30.13°EMidawara — 29.08°N, 30.10°EMidawara — 28.64°N, 30.88°EEsbarrondadoiro — 38.17°N, 8.17°WEsbarrondadoiro — 38.11°N, 8.36°WEsbarrondadoiro — 39.30°N, 8.12°WBhuban — 23.75°N, 92.68°ELiuchungchi — 23.44°N, 120.59°EOnzole — 0.63°S, 80.47°WOnzole — 0.60°S, 80.45°WOnzole — 0.97°N, 79.61°WChitarwata — 29.02°N, 68.99°EChitarwata — 28.85°N, 69.13°EChitarwata — 28.85°N, 69.27°EQasr el-Sagha — 29.60°N, 30.67°EQasr el-Sagha — 29.32°N, 30.05°EQasr el-Sagha — 29.27°N, 30.01°ETirabuzón — 27.37°N, 112.29°WChagres Sandstone — 9.16°N, 80.29°WChagres Sandstone — 9.28°N, 80.04°WAlachua — 29.55°N, 82.52°WAlachua — 29.65°N, 82.60°W

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The named rock units Carcharhinus has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 187 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 187 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Carcharhinus and its relatives

Miocene

Where Carcharhinus and its relatives were recorded in the Miocene.

Found in the same rock

3,452 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 482 sites for Carcharhinus, and this reads 240 of them. Of that, one read hit the database's own return limit, so every count below is a floor rather than a total. 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

265 references

Each of the 907 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. 253 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 content3

Picture of Carcharhinus

Credit
Albert kok
Licence
CC BY-SA 3.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

CT scan

Licence
not stated by the source
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record
Specimen
Carcharhinus limbatus · L-VM:NanoStackG

3D model

Source
Sketchfab
Licence
CC0 Public Domain
Commercial use
the licence allows it

Smithsonian Open Access was not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

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 itCarcharhinidae through timeFormations of the MioceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. de Blainville 1816