Otodontidae

Otodontidae is an extinct family of sharks belonging to the order Lamniformes. Its members have been described as megatoothed sharks. They lived from the Early Cretaceous to the Pliocene, and included genera such as Otodus, including the giant megalodon. Although traditionally classified under Carcharocles, studies of the genus Megalolamna indicate that the megatoothed sharks were likely members of Otodus. The genus Cretalamna which lived from the mid-Cretaceous-Paleogene is believed to be directly ancestral to Otodus, and thus to megalodon.

Otodontidae

Kenshu Shimada · CC BY-SA 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
Sits inside
LamniformesPBDB
Diet
carnivorePBDB, for Lamniformes
Life habit
nektonicPBDB, for Lamniformes
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Lamniformes

Time the record covers

At least 158 million years on record.

The record covers at least 161.5 Mya to 2.58 Mya. No occurrence read is dated outside 165.3 Mya to 0 Mya.

Middle Jurassic — about 2 of 1159 occurrencesLate Jurassic — about 0 of 1159 occurrencesEarly Cretaceous — about 19 of 1159 occurrencesEarly CretaceousLate Cretaceous — about 364 of 1159 occurrencesLate CretaceousPaleocene — about 75 of 1159 occurrencesEocene — about 191 of 1159 occurrencesEoceneOligocene — about 50 of 1159 occurrencesMiocene — about 381 of 1159 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 73 of 1159 occurrencesPleistocene — about 5 of 1159 occurrences169–163 Mya — about 1 occurrence163–157 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences129–124 Mya — about 1.0 occurrences124–118 Mya — about 2 occurrences118–112 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences112–107 Mya — about 4 occurrences107–101 Mya — about 10 occurrences101–96 Mya — about 55 occurrences96–90 Mya — about 65 occurrences90–84 Mya — about 50 occurrences84–79 Mya — about 60 occurrences79–73 Mya — about 53 occurrences73–67 Mya — about 65 occurrences67–62 Mya — about 41 occurrences62–56 Mya — about 49 occurrences56–51 Mya — about 31 occurrences51–45 Mya — about 39 occurrences45–39 Mya — about 54 occurrences39–34 Mya — about 69 occurrences34–28 Mya — about 24 occurrences28–22 Mya — about 32 occurrences22–17 Mya — about 88 occurrences17–11 Mya — about 144 occurrences11–5.6 Mya — about 134 occurrences5.6–0 Mya — about 86 occurrences161.5 Mya2.58 Mya169 Mya0 Mya

1,159 occurrences of Otodontidae on record, most of them in the Miocene. 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

1,159 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

375 formations

Landana — 5.22°S, 12.14°EPisco — 15.58°S, 74.72°WPisco — 14.56°S, 75.67°WPisco — 15.44°S, 74.87°WPisco — 15.50°S, 74.80°WPisco — 15.55°S, 74.80°WPisco — 14.34°S, 75.91°WPisco — 14.52°S, 75.71°WPisco — 14.35°S, 75.67°WGehannam — 29.31°N, 30.18°EGehannam — 29.36°N, 30.16°EGehannam — 29.33°N, 30.08°EGehannam — 29.30°N, 30.05°ECalvert — 38.54°N, 76.73°WCalvert — 38.60°N, 76.51°WCalvert — 38.67°N, 76.53°WCalvert — 38.53°N, 76.52°WCalvert — 38.18°N, 76.97°WCalvert — 37.93°N, 77.51°WCalvert — 38.16°N, 76.83°WMooreville Chalk — 31.39°N, 87.79°WMooreville Chalk — 32.91°N, 88.08°WMooreville Chalk — 32.76°N, 88.02°WMooreville Chalk — 32.92°N, 88.00°WMooreville Chalk — 32.42°N, 87.20°WMooreville Chalk — 32.34°N, 86.40°WPirabas — 0.48°S, 48.17°WPirabas — 1.05°S, 47.16°WPirabas — 0.60°S, 47.31°WPirabas — 1.21°S, 47.16°WPirabas — 0.63°S, 47.54°WMancos Shale — 38.90°N, 107.93°WMancos Shale — 39.00°N, 110.35°WMancos Shale — 36.14°N, 109.82°WMancos Shale — 36.51°N, 110.10°WMancos Shale — 35.73°N, 110.82°WMancos Shale — 36.18°N, 109.88°WMancos Shale — 36.33°N, 109.82°WMancos Shale — 36.00°N, 111.00°WTemblor — 35.47°N, 118.91°WTemblor — 35.30°N, 118.50°WTemblor — 35.27°N, 119.31°WGatun — 9.35°N, 79.80°WGatun — 9.35°N, 79.84°WGatun — 9.28°N, 79.89°WCarlile Shale — 39.89°N, 98.03°WCarlile Shale — 39.08°N, 99.24°WCarlile Shale — 39.78°N, 98.15°WCarlile Shale — 42.74°N, 97.03°WCarlile Shale — 38.72°N, 99.32°WCarlile Shale — 39.04°N, 99.07°WCarlile Shale — 47.01°N, 107.87°WCarlile Shale — 43.25°N, 103.92°WCarlile Shale — 44.09°N, 104.68°WGreenhorn Limestone — 37.22°N, 103.60°WGreenhorn Limestone — 39.00°N, 98.92°WGreenhorn Limestone — 44.65°N, 103.58°WGreenhorn Limestone — 37.46°N, 103.05°WGreenhorn Limestone — 38.87°N, 98.51°WGreenhorn Limestone — 38.94°N, 98.80°WGreenhorn Limestone — 39.04°N, 98.99°WGreenhorn Limestone — 38.78°N, 98.96°WGreenhorn Limestone — 38.74°N, 99.04°WChucunaque — 9.14°N, 79.75°WChucunaque — 9.15°N, 78.76°WChucunaque — 9.15°N, 78.78°WAquia — 38.89°N, 76.85°WAquia — 38.60°N, 77.14°WAquia — 38.45°N, 77.25°WAquia — 40.35°N, 74.25°WAquia — 38.50°N, 77.59°WLondon Clay — 51.51°N, 0.24°ELondon Clay — 51.45°N, 0.13°WLondon Clay — 51.60°N, 0.19°WLondon Clay — 51.54°N, 0.16°WLondon Clay — 51.37°N, 1.13°ELondon Clay — 51.65°N, 0.07°ELondon Clay — 51.53°N, 0.70°ELondon Clay — 51.85°N, 1.28°ELondon Clay — 50.80°N, 1.67°WGearle Siltstone — 23.11°S, 114.18°EGearle Siltstone — 22.89°S, 114.14°EGearle Siltstone — 27.59°S, 114.23°EUrumaco — 11.25°N, 70.27°WUrumaco — 11.22°N, 70.23°WNavesink — 39.95°N, 74.79°WNavesink — 40.35°N, 74.17°WNavesink — 40.33°N, 74.26°WNavesink — 40.40°N, 74.13°WNavesink — 40.38°N, 74.21°WChilcatay — 14.59°S, 75.66°WChilcatay — 14.62°S, 75.64°WChilcatay — 14.06°S, 75.73°WBone Valley — 27.66°N, 82.08°WBone Valley — 27.90°N, 81.80°WBone Valley — 27.80°N, 81.98°WNiobrara — 38.89°N, 101.21°WNiobrara — 39.09°N, 99.24°WNiobrara — 39.08°N, 99.31°WNiobrara — 38.83°N, 100.06°WNiobrara — 38.73°N, 100.23°WNiobrara — 40.71°N, 105.17°WNiobrara — 38.80°N, 100.19°WMenuha — 30.95°N, 35.00°EMenuha — 30.50°N, 34.65°EMenuha — 30.56°N, 34.65°EMenuha — 30.58°N, 34.90°EGreenhorn — 43.29°N, 103.80°WGreenhorn — 44.72°N, 103.67°WGreenhorn — 44.76°N, 103.75°WGreenhorn — 43.29°N, 103.42°WEutaw — 32.38°N, 84.93°WEutaw — 32.35°N, 86.35°WEutaw — 33.52°N, 88.40°WEutaw — 32.77°N, 87.87°WEutaw — 32.73°N, 87.68°WAmman — 32.24°N, 36.25°EAmman — 30.81°N, 36.03°EAmman — 29.92°N, 36.17°EAmman — 31.46°N, 35.78°EAmman — 32.03°N, 35.97°E

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Otodontidae has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 351 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 309 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Otodontidae and its relatives

Miocene

Where Otodontidae and its relatives were recorded in the Miocene.

Found in the same rock

3,678 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 973 sites for Otodontidae, and this reads 240 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

489 references

Each of the 1,159 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. 477 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 Otodontidae

Credit
Kenshu Shimada
Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

3D model

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

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 itLamniformes through timeFormations of the MioceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Glickman 1964