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Otodus megalodon (megalodon)
Taxonomy
Carcharias megalodon was named by Agassiz (1835). It is a 3D body fossil.
It was recombined as Carcharodon megalodon by Agassiz (1843), Gibbes (1847), Cope (1868), Davis (1888), Woodward (1889), Hector (1894), Hay (1902), Chapman and Pritchard (1904), Eastman (1904), Eastman (1908), Chapman (1918), Jordan and Gilbert (1919), Chapman and Cudmore (1924), Leriche (1926), Arambourg (1927), Leriche (1938), Leriche (1942), Casier (1958), Applegate and Espinosa-Arrubarrena (1996), Gottfried et al. (1996), Donovan and Gunter (2001), Purdy et al. (2001), Vicens and Rodríguez-Perea (2003), Nieves-Rivera et al. (2003), Aguilera and de Aguilera (2004); it was recombined as Procarcharodon megalodon by Casier (1960), dos Reis (2005); it was recombined as Megaselachus megalodon by Gilkman (1964), Cahuzac et al. (2007), Antunes et al. (2015); it was recombined as Carcharocles megalodon by Yabe and Hirayama (1998), Antunes and Balbino (2003), Ehret et al. (2009), Pimiento et al. (2010), Ehret et al. (2012), Boessenecker (2016), Hastings and Dooley (2017), Kent (2018), Miller et al. (2021); it was recombined as Otodus (Carcharocles) megalodon by Cantalice et al. (2025); it was recombined as Otodus megalodon by Reinecke and Radwanski (2015), Trif et al. (2016), Boessenecker et al. (2019), Maisch et al. (2020), Pollerspöck et al. (2025).
It was recombined as Carcharodon megalodon by Agassiz (1843), Gibbes (1847), Cope (1868), Davis (1888), Woodward (1889), Hector (1894), Hay (1902), Chapman and Pritchard (1904), Eastman (1904), Eastman (1908), Chapman (1918), Jordan and Gilbert (1919), Chapman and Cudmore (1924), Leriche (1926), Arambourg (1927), Leriche (1938), Leriche (1942), Casier (1958), Applegate and Espinosa-Arrubarrena (1996), Gottfried et al. (1996), Donovan and Gunter (2001), Purdy et al. (2001), Vicens and Rodríguez-Perea (2003), Nieves-Rivera et al. (2003), Aguilera and de Aguilera (2004); it was recombined as Procarcharodon megalodon by Casier (1960), dos Reis (2005); it was recombined as Megaselachus megalodon by Gilkman (1964), Cahuzac et al. (2007), Antunes et al. (2015); it was recombined as Carcharocles megalodon by Yabe and Hirayama (1998), Antunes and Balbino (2003), Ehret et al. (2009), Pimiento et al. (2010), Ehret et al. (2012), Boessenecker (2016), Hastings and Dooley (2017), Kent (2018), Miller et al. (2021); it was recombined as Otodus (Carcharocles) megalodon by Cantalice et al. (2025); it was recombined as Otodus megalodon by Reinecke and Radwanski (2015), Trif et al. (2016), Boessenecker et al. (2019), Maisch et al. (2020), Pollerspöck et al. (2025).
Synonyms
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Synonymy list
| Year | Name and author |
|---|---|
| 1835 | Carcharias megalodon Agassiz figs. Pl 29, figs 1-7 |
| 1837 | Carcharias megalodon Charlesworth p. 225 figs. Fig. 24 |
| 1839 | Carcharias rectidens Agassiz figs. Pl 30a, fig 10 |
| 1843 | Carcharodon megalodon Agassiz p. 247 figs. Plate XXIX |
| 1843 | Carcharodon rectidens Agassiz p. 250 |
| 1847 | Carcharodon megalodon Gibbes p. 143 |
| 1858 | Carcharodon ferox Emmons p. 227 figs. Fig. 50 |
| 1858 | Carcharodon triangularis Emmons p. 232 figs. Fig. 59 |
| 1868 | Carcharodon megalodon Cope p. 142 |
| 1888 | Carcharodon megalodon Davis p. 12 |
| 1889 | Carcharodon megalodon Woodward p. 415 |
| 1894 | Carcharodon megalodon Hector p. 116 |
| 1902 | Carcharodon megalodon Hay p. 308 |
| 1904 | Carcharodon megalodon Chapman and Pritchard p. 284 |
| 1904 | Carcharodon megalodon Eastman p. 82 |
| 1908 | Carcharodon megalodon Eastman p. 186 |
| 1918 | Carcharodon megalodon Chapman p. 19 |
| 1919 | Carcharodon megalodon Jordan and Gilbert p. 22 |
| 1924 | Carcharodon megalodon Chapman and Cudmore p. 133 |
| 1926 | Carcharodon megalodon Leriche p. 412 |
| 1927 | Carcharodon megalodon Arambourg p. 224 |
| 1938 | Carcharodon megalodon Leriche p. 8 |
| 1942 | Carcharodon megalodon Leriche p. 74 |
| 1958 | Carcharodon megalodon Casier p. 70 |
| 1960 | Procarcharodon megalodon Casier |
| 1964 | Megaselachus megalodon Gilkman |
| 1996 | Carcharodon megalodon Applegate and Espinosa-Arrubarrena p. 31 |
| 1996 | Carcharodon megalodon Gottfried et al. p. 57 |
| 1998 | Carcharocles megalodon Yabe and Hirayama p. 46 |
| 2001 | Carcharodon megalodon Donovan and Gunter p. 212 |
| 2001 | Carcharodon megalodon Purdy et al. p. 131 |
| 2003 | Carcharocles megalodon Antunes and Balbino p. 144 |
| 2003 | Carcharodon megalodon Nieves-Rivera et al. p. 224 |
| 2003 | Carcharodon megalodon Vicens and Rodríguez-Perea p. 123 |
| 2004 | Carcharodon megalodon Aguilera and de Aguilera p. 368 |
| 2005 | Procarcharodon megalodon dos Reis p. 41 |
| 2007 | Megaselachus megalodon Cahuzac et al. p. 18 |
| 2009 | Carcharocles megalodon Ehret et al. p. 3 |
| 2010 | Carcharocles megalodon Pimiento et al. p. 3 |
| 2012 | Carcharocles megalodon Ehret et al. |
| 2015 | Megaselachus megalodon Antunes et al. p. 182 |
| 2015 | Otodus megalodon Reinecke and Radwanski p. 9 |
| 2016 | Carcharocles megalodon Boessenecker p. 3 |
| 2016 | Otodus megalodon Trif et al. p. 510 |
| 2017 | Carcharocles megalodon Hastings and Dooley p. 83 |
| 2018 | Carcharocles megalodon Kent p. 88 |
| 2019 | Otodus megalodon Boessenecker et al. p. 8 |
| 2020 | Otodus megalodon Maisch et al. p. 122 |
| 2021 | Carcharocles megalodon Miller et al. p. 1 |
| 2025 | Otodus (Carcharocles) megalodon Cantalice et al. p. 14 |
| 2025 | Otodus megalodon Pollerspöck et al. p. 121 |
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If no rank is listed, the taxon is considered an unranked clade in modern classifications. Ranks may be repeated or presented in the wrong order because authors working on different parts of the classification may disagree about how to rank taxa.
†Otodus megalodon Agassiz 1835 [megalodon]
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Invalid names: Carcharias rectidens Agassiz 1839 [synonym], Carcharodon ferox Emmons 1858 [synonym], Carcharodon triangularis Emmons 1858 [synonym]
Diagnosis
| Reference | Diagnosis | |
|---|---|---|
| N. Trif et al. 2016 | The teeth of Otodus megalodon are of large size, triangular shape with a broad serrated crown, lingual face convex, labial face flat, large neck, robust, thick, and angled or a more rounded shaped root with dispersed foramina (Pimiento, 2010a). Juvenile teeth of this species usually possess cusplets which are gradually reduced in ontogeny (Ward, Bonavia 2001; Diedrich, 2013). Otodus megalodon differs from Carcharodon carcharias by lacking a labiolingually flattened crown (Purdy et al. 2001), having a larger, massive root and finer, more regular and lobed serrations (Nyberg et al. 2006). | |
| R. W. Boessenecker et al. 2019 | Crowns broad, triangular, and erect, being broader and more vertical in anterior teeth and with increasing posterior inclination distally; labial crown face relatively flat or mildly convex, often showing short vertical infoldings of the enameloid at base of crown, lingual crown face moderately convex; crown enameloid relatively thick; chevron-shaped band of thinner enameloid on lingual crown face between base of crown and root (lingual neck), thicker in medial section becoming thinner laterally and showing fine vertical striations; cutting edge with fine, even, rounded serrations along entire margin, averaging 12–17 serrations per centimeter (cm); lateral cusplets lacking in adult teeth; root is labiolingually thick with two laterally divergent but apicobasally shallow lobes, usually similar in size and not extending much laterally beyond the lower margin of the crown; labial root face is relatively flat while the lingual root face is laterally convex and thicker in the center with a pronounced nutritive foramen medially.
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