Carcharhinus obscurus

The dusky shark is a species of requiem shark, in the family Carcharhinidae, occurring in tropical and warm-temperate continental seas worldwide. A generalist apex predator, the dusky shark can be found from the coast to the outer continental shelf and adjacent pelagic waters, and has been recorded from a depth of 400 m (1,300 ft). Populations migrate seasonally towards the poles in the summer and towards the equator in the winter, traveling hundreds to thousands of kilometers. One of the largest members of its genus, the dusky shark reaches more than 4 m (13 ft) in length and 350 kg (770 lb) in weight. It has a slender, streamlined body and can be identified by its short round snout, long sickle-shaped pectoral fins, ridge between the first and second dorsal fins, and faintly marked fins.

Carcharhinus obscurus

Happy Little Nomad from Everywhere, Anywhere · CC BY-SA 2.0 · 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
dusky sharkPBDB
Sits inside
CarcharhinusPBDB
Diet
carnivorePBDB, for Carcharhiniformes
Life habit
nektonicPBDB, for Carcharhiniformes
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Carcharhiniformes

Time the record covers

At least 15 million years on record.

The record covers at least 15.98 Mya to 11.7 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 23.04 Mya to 0 Mya.

Oligocene — about 0 of 41 occurrencesMiocene — about 29 of 41 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 4 of 41 occurrencesPliocenePleistocene — about 6 of 41 occurrencesPleistocene24–23 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences23–22 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences22–21 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences21–20 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences20–20 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences20–19 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences19–18 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences18–17 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences17–16 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences16–16 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences16–15 Mya — about 1.0 occurrences15–14 Mya — about 1.0 occurrences14–13 Mya — about 1 occurrence13–13 Mya — about 1 occurrence13–12 Mya — about 1 occurrence12–11 Mya — about 2 occurrences11–10 Mya — about 3 occurrences10–9.4 Mya — about 3 occurrences9.4–8.6 Mya — about 3 occurrences8.6–7.8 Mya — about 3 occurrences7.8–7.1 Mya — about 3 occurrences7.1–6.3 Mya — about 3 occurrences6.3–5.5 Mya — about 3 occurrences5.5–4.7 Mya — about 2 occurrences4.7–3.9 Mya — about 2 occurrences3.9–3.1 Mya — about 0.9 occurrences3.1–2.4 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences2.4–1.6 Mya — about 2 occurrences1.6–785 ka Mya — about 2 occurrences785 ka–0 Mya — about 3 occurrences15.98 Mya11.7 ka23.5 Mya0 Mya

41 occurrences of Carcharhinus obscurus 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

41 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

18 formations

Chucunaque — 9.13°N, 78.75°WChucunaque — 9.15°N, 78.79°WUrumaco — 11.21°N, 70.25°WUrumaco — 11.24°N, 70.25°WGrand Bay — 12.48°N, 61.43°WChagres Sandstone — 9.16°N, 80.29°WChagres Sandstone — 9.28°N, 80.04°WCastillo — 10.37°N, 70.05°WYorktown — 35.36°N, 76.82°WPunta Judas — 9.52°N, 84.53°WTirabuzón — 27.37°N, 112.29°WRefugio — 23.17°N, 109.62°WGatun — 9.35°N, 79.84°WKendance — 12.46°N, 61.43°WAngostura — 0.74°N, 79.94°WJama — 0.17°N, 80.33°WLiuchungchi — 23.44°N, 120.59°EMoghra — 30.33°N, 28.75°EBermont — 27.70°N, 82.50°WBahía Inglesa — 27.16°S, 70.89°WSaloum — 14.96°N, 17.05°W

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The named rock units Carcharhinus obscurus has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 6 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Carcharhinus obscurus and its relatives

Miocene

Where Carcharhinus obscurus and its relatives were recorded in the Miocene.

Found in the same rock

793 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 32 sites for Carcharhinus obscurus, 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

21 references

Each of the 41 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. 9 further references are not listed. Each entry links to doi.org. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content1

Picture of Carcharhinus obscurus

Credit
Happy Little Nomad from Everywhere, Anywhere
Licence
CC BY-SA 2.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

No 3D scan of Carcharhinus obscurus was found in MorphoSource and Sketchfab.

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 itCarcharhinus through timeFormations of the MioceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. (Le Sueur 1818)