PBDB Taxon

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Odontaspis (sand tiger shark)

Chondrichthyes - Lamniformes - Odontaspididae

Taxonomy

Odontaspis was named by Agassiz (1838) [Sepkoski's age data: K Camp R Sepkoski's reference number: 884 Sepkoski's age data: K Camp R Sepkoski's reference number: 884]. It is extant.

It was reranked as Lamna (Odontaspis) by Agassiz (1843), Gibbes (1847); it was reranked as Scapanorhynchus (Odontaspis) by Priem (1896); it was synonymized subjectively with Carcharias by Hay (1902).

It was assigned to Lamna by Agassiz (1843), Gibbes (1847); to Scapanorhynchus by Priem (1896); to Carcharidae by Weiler (1938); to Lamnidae by Davis (1888), Woodward (1889), Alessandri (1896), Ameghino (1901), Chapman and Pritchard (1904), Eastman (1904), Stromer (1910), Chapman (1918), Chapman and Cudmore (1924), Leriche (1926), White (1926), Bohm (1926), Leriche (1942); to Carchariidae by Jordan (1963); to Odontaspinae by Herman (1977); to Lamniformes by Sepkoski (2002); to Odontaspidae by Dartevelle and Casier (1943), Casier (1946), Cappetta and Case (1975), Adegoke (1977), Ciobanu (1977), Case (1978), Case (1979), Case (1981), Bendix-Almgreen (1983), Martin and Crame (2006), Bogan and Agnolin (2010), Ebersole et al. (2019); and to Odontaspididae by Casier (1958), Heinrich (1969), Itoigawa (1977), Squires (1984), Case et al. (1990), Long (1992), Cappetta and Corral (1999), Mors et al. (2000), Purdy et al. (2001), Compagno (2005), Cappetta and Nolf (2005), Kocsis (2007), Otero et al. (2013), Bice and Shimada (2016), Hoganson et al. (2019), Cantalice et al. (2019), Villafaña et al. (2020), Goedert et al. (2024), Popov et al. (2025).

Species

O. (Odontaspis), O. actutissima, O. aculeatus (syn. Hypotodus grandis), O. attenuata, O. bicarinatus, O. bronni, O. exigua, O. exilis, O. ferox, O. incurva, O. macrota, O. molassica, O. sanguinei, O. speyeri, O. substriata, O. tricuspidatus, O. watinensis, O. winkleri

Species lacking formal opinion data

O. abbatei, O. accutissima, O. acutisima, O. acutissuma, O. borodini, O. cheethami, O. contoridens, O. hynei, O. irigonalis, O. littoralis, O. sahammeri, O. studeri, O. substriatus

Synonymy list

Year	Name and author
1838	Odontaspis Agassiz p. 87
1843	Lamna (Odontaspis) Agassiz p. 288
1847	Lamna (Odontaspis) Gibbes p. 197
1888	Odontaspis Davis p. 22
1889	Odontaspis Woodward p. 353
1896	Odontaspis Alessandri p. 720
1896	Scapanorhynchus (Odontaspis) Priem p. 15
1901	Odontaspis Ameghino p. 82
1904	Odontaspis Chapman and Pritchard p. 275
1904	Odontaspis Eastman p. 78
1910	Odontaspis Stromer p. 495
1918	Odontaspis Chapman p. 10
1924	Odontaspis Chapman and Cudmore p. 122
1926	Odontaspis Bohm p. 76
1926	Odontaspis Leriche p. 393
1926	Odontaspis White p. 15
1938	Odontaspis Weiler p. 8
1942	Odontaspis Leriche p. 13
1943	Odontaspis Dartevelle and Casier p. 115
1946	Odontaspis Casier p. 63
1958	Odontaspis Casier p. 18
1963	Odontaspis Jordan p. 599
1969	Odontaspis Heinrich p. 47
1975	Odontaspis Cappetta and Case p. 17
1977	Odontaspis Adegoke p. 299
1977	Odontaspis Ciobanu p. 43
1977	Odontaspis Herman p. 165
1977	Odontaspis Itoigawa p. 129
1978	Odontaspis Case p. 190
1979	Odontaspis Case p. 81
1981	Odontaspis Case p. 59
1983	Odontaspis Bendix-Almgreen p. 2
1984	Odontaspis Squires p. 56
1990	Odontaspis Case et al. p. 1085
1992	Odontaspis Long p. 24
1999	Odontaspis Cappetta and Corral p. 348
2000	Odontaspis Mors et al. p. 151
2001	Odontaspis Purdy et al. p. 104
2002	Odontaspis Sepkoski
2005	Odontaspis Cappetta and Nolf p. 248
2005	Odontaspis Compagno
2006	Odontaspis Martin and Crame p. 113
2007	Odontaspis Kocsis p. 31
2010	Odontaspis Bogan and Agnolin
2013	Odontaspis Otero et al. p. 18 figs. Fg.3: 11-15
2016	Odontaspis Bice and Shimada p. 175
2019	Odontaspis Cantalice et al. p. 431
2019	Odontaspis Ebersole et al. p. 52
2019	Odontaspis Hoganson et al. p. 24
2020	Odontaspis Villafaña et al.
2024	Odontaspis Goedert et al. p. 452
2025	Odontaspis Popov et al.

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Rank	Name	Author
kingdom	Animalia	()
—	Bilateria
—	Eubilateria	Ax 1987
—	Deuterostomia
phylum	Chordata	Haeckel 1874
subphylum	Vertebrata
superclass	Gnathostomata
class	Chondrichthyes

Rank	Name	Author
infraclass	Elasmobranchii	(Bonaparte 1838)
—	Euselachii	()
—	Neoselachii	Compagno 1977
superorder	Galeomorphii	Compagno 1973
order	Lamniformes	Berg 1958
family	Odontaspididae	Müller and Henle 1839
genus	Odontaspis

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.

G. Odontaspis Agassiz 1838 [sand tiger shark]

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Subg. †Odontaspis (Odontaspis) Agassiz 1838

†Odontaspis actutissima Agassiz 1843

†Odontaspis aculeatus Cappetta and Case 1975

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Invalid names: Hypotodus grandis Case 1978 [synonym]

†Odontaspis attenuata Davis 1888

†Odontaspis bicarinatus Williston 1900

†Odontaspis bronni Agassiz 1843

†Odontaspis exigua Davis 1888

†Odontaspis exilis Leriche 1942

Odontaspis ferox Risso 1826 [smalltooth sand tiger]

†Odontaspis incurva Davis 1888

†Odontaspis macrota Agassiz 1838

†Odontaspis macrota semistriata Leriche 1942

†Odontaspis molassica Probst 1879

†Odontaspis sanguinei Case 1978

†Odontaspis speyeri Dartevelle and Casier 1943

†Odontaspis substriata Stromer 1910

†Odontaspis substriata atlasi Nolf 1972

Odontaspis tricuspidatus Day 1878 [Indian sand tiger]

†Odontaspis watinensis Cook et al. 2013

†Odontaspis winkleri Leriche 1905

Diagnosis

No diagnoses are available

Measurements

No measurements are available

Composition:

phosphaticsubp

Environment:

marinesubp

Locomotion:

actively mobileo

Life habit:

nektonico

Diet:

carnivoreo

Created:

2009-07-21 07:05:21

Modified:

2009-07-21 14:05:21

Source: o = order, subp = subphylum

References: Wagner 2023, Hendy et al. 2009, Carroll 1988

Age range

Maximum range based only on fossils: base of the Early/Lower Valanginian to the top of the Late/Upper Pleistocene or 137.05000 to 0.01170 Ma
Minimum age of oldest fossil (stem group age): 132.6 Ma

Collections (340 total)

Time interval	Ma	Country or state	Original ID and collection number
Oldest occurrences
Cretaceous	143.1 - 66.0	New Zealand (South Island)	Lamna incurva (204190)
Early/Lower Valanginian	137.05 - 132.6	Switzerland	Odontaspis studeri (2225)
Hauterivian	132.6 - 125.77	Switzerland	Odontaspis studeri (2198)
Barremian - Albian	125.77 - 100.5	Tunisia (Medinine)	Odontaspis sp. (166013)
Aptian	121.4 - 113.2	Japan (Iwate)	Odontaspis sp. (210764 210766)
Late/Upper Aptian	119.57 - 113.2	Germany	Odontaspis sp. I (241410)
Early/Lower Albian	113.2 - 110.1	Germany	Odontaspis sp. II (241411 241412)
Early/Lower Cenomanian	100.5 - 93.9	Egypt (Matruh)	Odontaspis sp. (84550)
Middle Cenomanian	100.5 - 93.9	Russian Federation (Volgograd)	Odontaspis sp. (92399)
Cenomanian - Turonian	100.5 - 89.8	Japan (Hokkaido)	Odontaspis sp. (210760)
Late/Upper Cretaceous	100.5 - 66.0	Japan (Hokkaido)	Odontaspis sp. (161435)
Early/Lower Turonian	93.9 - 89.8	Canada (Alberta)	Odontaspis watinensis (136242)
Late/Upper Turonian	93.9 - 89.8	USA (Colorado)	Odontaspis macrota (276552)
Middle Turonian	93.9 - 89.8	USA (Kansas)	Odontaspis watinensis (213387)
Turonian - Coniacian	93.9 - 85.7	USA (New Mexico)	Odontaspis sp. (56389)
Early/Lower Coniacian	89.8 - 85.7	Japan	Odontaspis sp. (277588)
Late/Upper Coniacian - Early/Lower Santonian	89.8 - 83.6	USA (Alabama)	Odontaspis sp. (90242)
Late/Upper Santonian - Middle Campanian	85.7 - 72.2	USA (Georgia)	Odontaspis sp. (215806)
Campanian	83.6 - 72.2	USA (New Jersey)	Odontaspis sp. (124222)
Early/Lower Campanian	83.6 - 72.2	USA (New Jersey)	Odontaspis aculeatus (88610)