Otodus obliquus

Otodus obliquus is an extinct species of large mackerel shark that lived in Early Paleocene to Early Eocene, between 65 and 54 million years ago. It is considered one of first members of Otodus sharks and the type species of genus. It is considered the ancestor of the famous giant mackerel shark, Megalodon. The largest individuals would have measured 8–9 metres (26–30 ft) long.

Otodus obliquus

Joanbanjo · 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
OtodusPBDB
Diet
carnivorePBDB, for Lamniformes
Life habit
nektonicPBDB, for Lamniformes
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Lamniformes

Time the record covers

At least 58 million years on record.

The record covers at least 72.2 Mya to 13.82 Mya. No occurrence read is dated outside 83.6 Mya to 0 Mya.

Late Cretaceous — about 1 of 71 occurrencesLate CretaceousPaleocene — about 26 of 71 occurrencesPaleoceneEocene — about 41 of 71 occurrencesEoceneOligocene — about 0 of 71 occurrencesOligoceneMiocene — about 2 of 71 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 0 of 71 occurrencesPleistocene — about 0 of 71 occurrences85–82 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences82–80 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences80–77 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences77–74 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences74–71 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences68–65 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences65–63 Mya — about 2 occurrences63–60 Mya — about 5 occurrences60–57 Mya — about 14 occurrences57–54 Mya — about 11 occurrences54–51 Mya — about 9 occurrences51–48 Mya — about 8 occurrences48–45 Mya — about 6 occurrences45–43 Mya — about 5 occurrences43–40 Mya — about 4 occurrences40–37 Mya — about 2 occurrences37–34 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences34–31 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences31–28 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences28–26 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences26–23 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences23–20 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences20–17 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences17–14 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences14–11 Mya — about 2 occurrences11–8.5 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences8.5–5.7 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences5.7–2.8 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences2.8–0 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences72.2 Mya13.82 Mya85 Mya0 Mya

71 occurrences of Otodus obliquus on record, most of them in the Eocene. 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

71 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

25 formations

London 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°WAquia — 38.60°N, 77.14°WAquia — 38.45°N, 77.25°WAquia — 40.35°N, 74.25°WAquia — 38.50°N, 77.59°WLandana — 5.22°S, 12.14°ETuffeau de St-Omer — 50.53°N, 3.15°ETuffeau de St-Omer — 50.44°N, 3.07°ECalvert — 38.54°N, 76.73°WAkzhar — 46.03°N, 64.65°ENanjemoy — 38.28°N, 77.37°WNanjemoy — 37.29°N, 77.24°WSables de Bracheux — 49.58°N, 2.65°ESables de Bracheux — 49.51°N, 2.83°EHornerstown — 39.76°N, 75.13°WUmm al-Rua’us — 26.43°N, 50.11°EBarton Clay — 50.74°N, 1.69°WBarton Beds — 50.74°N, 1.69°WTe Whanga Limestone — 43.82°S, 176.50°EArgiles d'Lignite du Soissonnais — 49.33°N, 2.66°EWilliamsburg — 33.43°N, 80.10°WTaiba — 15.04°N, 16.82°WFürstenau — 52.59°N, 7.22°EConway — 42.58°S, 173.49°ELisbon — 31.83°N, 88.31°WRío Baguales — 50.73°S, 72.47°WKalinino — 52.51°N, 46.58°EMons-en-Pévèle Sand — 50.81°N, 4.33°EKortrijk Clay — 50.80°N, 3.22°ELillebælt Clay — 55.60°N, 9.81°E

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The named rock units Otodus obliquus has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. One further formation holds fewer occurrences and is not listed. 19 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Otodus obliquus and its relatives

Eocene

Where Otodus obliquus and its relatives were recorded in the Eocene.

Found in the same rock

841 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 66 sites for Otodus obliquus, 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 71 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 Otodus obliquus

Credit
Joanbanjo
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 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 itOtodus through timeFormations of the EoceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. (Agassiz 1838)