Chondrichthyes - Lamniformes - Otodontidae
Alternative combinations: Carcharias megalodon, Carcharocles megalodon, Carcharodon megalodon, Megaselachus megalodon, Otodus (Carcharocles) megalodon, Otodus (Megaselachus) megalodon, Procarcharodon megalodon
Synonyms: Carcharias rectidens Agassiz 1839, Carcharodon ferox Emmons 1858, Carcharodon rectidens Agassiz 1839, Carcharodon triangularis Emmons 1858
Full reference: L. Agassiz. 1835. Recherches Sur Les Poissons Fossiles. Tome III (5me livraison)
Belongs to Otodus according to L. Bateman and H. C. Larsson 2025
See also Agassiz 1835, Agassiz 1839, Agassiz 1843, Aguilera and de Aguilera 2004, Andrianavalona et al. 2015, Antunes 1978, Antunes and Balbino 2003, Antunes et al. 1981, Antunes et al. 2015, Applegate and Espinosa-Arrubarrena 1996, Arambourg 1927, Ávila et al. 2012, Bauzá Rullán 1966, Bendix-Almgreen 1983, Betancort et al. 2016, Bhalla and Dev 1984, Boessenecker 2016, Boessenecker et al. 2019, Brisswalter 2009, Cabral and Hazevoet 2023, Cahuzac et al. 2007, Cantalice et al. 2025, Carrillo-Briceño et al. 2015, Carrillo-Briceño et al. 2016, Carrillo-Briceño et al. 2015, Casier 1958, Chapman 1918, Chapman and Cudmore 1924, Chapman and Pritchard 1904, Cope 1868, Davis 1888, Donovan and Gunter 2001, dos Reis 2005, Eastman 1904, Eastman 1908, Ehret et al. 2009, Ehret et al. 2012, Everaert et al. 2019, Gibbes 1847, Gottfried et al. 1996, Hastings and Dooley 2017, Hay 1902, Hector 1894, Jordan and Gilbert 1919, Kent 2018, Kocsis et al. 2019, Koda et al. 2007, Landau et al. 2025, Landini et al. 2017, Leriche 1926, Leriche 1938, Leriche 1942, Maisch et al. 2020, Maisch IV et al. 2025, Malyshkina et al. 2023, Miller et al. 2021, Mora Morote 1996, Nieves-Rivera et al. 2003, Nolf 1988, Pimiento et al. 2010, Pledge 1967, Pollerspöck et al. 2025, Purdy et al. 2001, Reinecke and Radwanski 2015, Trif et al. 2016, Vicens and Rodríguez-Perea 2003, Woodward 1889 and Yabe and Hirayama 1998
Sister taxa: Otodus (Carcharocles), Otodus (Megaselachus), Otodus (Otodus), Otodus aksuaticus, Otodus auriculatus, Otodus chubutensis, Otodus isoelicus, Otodus levis, Otodus minor, Otodus naidini, Otodus obliquus, Otodus poseidoni, Otodus recticonus, Otodus schoutedeni, Otodus sokolovi, Otodus spathula, Otodus subplicatus, Otodus tricuspis, Otodus trigonatus
Distribution:
• Blancan of Mexico (1 collection)
• Pliocene to Pleistocene of Cape Verde (1), New Zealand (1)
• Pliocene of Antigua and Barbuda (1), Argentina (1), Australia (3), Ecuador (2), Italy (8), Japan (1), Libya (1), Mexico (1), New Zealand (3), Portugal (1), South Africa (2), Spain (6), the United Kingdom (4), United States (10: California, Florida, North Carolina), Venezuela (2)
• Hemphillian of Mexico (1), United States (3: Florida)
• Miocene to Pliocene of Angola (1), Argentina (1), Australia (2), Chile (1), Cuba (1), Japan (1), Mexico (2), Panama (1), Portugal (1), United States (5: California, Florida), Venezuela (1)
• Miocene of Algeria (1), Angola (3), Argentina (3), Australia (7), Austria (8), Belgium (4), Brunei Darussalam (2), Cape Verde (1), Chile (2), Colombia (1), Costa Rica (1), Cuba (1), Cyprus (1), Czechia (1), Denmark (1), Egypt (1), France (12), Germany (3), Greece (1), Grenada (1), India (4), Italy (1), Jamaica (1), Japan (26), Madagascar (2), Malta (5), Mexico (6), Myanmar (1), the Netherlands (1), New Zealand (4), North Atlantic (6), Panama (21), Peru (17), Poland (2), Portugal (10), Puerto Rico (1), Romania (2), Slovakia (2), South Africa (2), South Korea (1), Spain (5), Trinidad and Tobago (1), Türkiye (1), United States (52: California, Florida, Maryland, New Jersey, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia), Uruguay (1), Venezuela (19)
• Neogene of Barbados (1), Fiji (1), Indian Ocean (1), Nigeria (1), North Pacific (1), South Pacific (3), United States (1: California), United States Minor Outlying Islands (1)
• Oligocene of Australia (1), Japan (1)
• Paleocene of United States (1: South Carolina)
• Cenozoic of New Zealand (1)
Total: 333 collections including 334 occurrences
Specimen images are retrieved through the ePANDDA API.
Click image to enlarge. Click to access iDigBio record.