Galeocerdo cuvier

The tiger shark is a species of ground shark, and the only extant member of the genus Galeocerdo and family Galeocerdonidae. It is a large predator, with females capable of attaining a length of over 5 m. Populations are found in many tropical and temperate waters, especially around central Pacific islands. Its name derives from the dark stripes down its body, which resemble a tiger's pattern and fade as the shark matures.

Galeocerdo cuvier

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
Also called
tiger sharkPBDB
Sits inside
GaleocerdoPBDB
Diet
carnivorePBDB, for Carcharhiniformes
Life habit
nektonicPBDB, for Carcharhiniformes
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Carcharhiniformes

Time the record covers

At least 37 million years on record.

The record covers at least 37.71 Mya to 11.7 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 41.03 Mya to 0 Mya.

Eocene — about 1 of 53 occurrencesEoceneOligocene — about 0 of 53 occurrencesMiocene — about 31 of 53 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 11 of 53 occurrencesPleistocene — about 8 of 53 occurrences42–40 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences40–39 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences39–38 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences24–22 Mya — about 0.9 occurrences22–21 Mya — about 2 occurrences21–20 Mya — about 1 occurrence20–18 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences18–17 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences17–15 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences15–14 Mya — about 1 occurrence14–13 Mya — about 1 occurrence13–11 Mya — about 3 occurrences11–9.8 Mya — about 5 occurrences9.8–8.4 Mya — about 5 occurrences8.4–7.0 Mya — about 4 occurrences7.0–5.6 Mya — about 4 occurrences5.6–4.2 Mya — about 7 occurrences4.2–2.8 Mya — about 4 occurrences2.8–1.4 Mya — about 3 occurrences1.4–0 Mya — about 8 occurrences37.71 Mya11.7 ka41.9 Mya0 Mya

53 occurrences of Galeocerdo cuvier 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

53 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

24 formations

Chucunaque — 9.13°N, 78.75°WChucunaque — 9.15°N, 78.79°WGatun — 9.35°N, 79.84°WGatun — 9.35°N, 79.81°WUrumaco — 11.25°N, 70.27°WUrumaco — 11.24°N, 70.25°WBermont — 27.70°N, 82.50°WLuanda — 8.76°S, 13.30°ECulebra — 9.57°N, 79.65°WCulebra — 9.54°N, 79.66°WArcadia — 27.80°N, 81.98°WArcadia — 27.29°N, 82.53°WChagres Sandstone — 9.16°N, 80.29°WChagres Sandstone — 9.28°N, 80.04°WSeria — 4.81°N, 114.67°EYorktown — 33.79°N, 77.65°WYorktown — 33.58°N, 77.42°WJaffna — 8.28°N, 79.82°ETamiami — 26.72°N, 81.67°WAlachua — 29.55°N, 82.52°WJaffna Limestone — 8.26°N, 79.84°EYorktown — 35.36°N, 76.82°WChengapara — 25.17°N, 90.67°EGoose Creek — 32.77°N, 79.92°WStatenville — 30.40°N, 83.00°WBlue Clay — 35.93°N, 14.34°EWaccamaw — 33.10°N, 80.31°WLiuchungchi — 23.44°N, 120.59°EHarudi — 23.65°N, 68.68°ECodore — 11.27°N, 70.28°WSaloum — 14.96°N, 17.05°W

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The named rock units Galeocerdo cuvier has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 13 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Galeocerdo cuvier and its relatives

Miocene

Where Galeocerdo cuvier and its relatives were recorded in the Miocene.

Found in the same rock

1,030 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 45 sites for Galeocerdo cuvier, 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

34 references

Each of the 53 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. 22 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 Galeocerdo cuvier

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

3D model

Source
Sketchfab
Credit
Major
Licence
CC Attribution
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record

Smithsonian Open Access and MorphoSource were 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 itGaleocerdo through timeFormations of the MioceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Peron and LeSueur 1822