Otodus macrotus was named by Agassiz (1838) [Eocene; Pacific North America, Atlantic North America, Belgium, Paris Basin, Ukraine, Central Asia, Kazakhstan, Chile, Seymour Island].

It was recombined as Odontaspis macrota by Gibbes (1847), Bohm (1926), Leriche (1942), White (1956), Edwards (1976), Thurmond and Jones (1981), Wolberg (1985), Verma (2024); it was recombined as Lamna macrota by Woodward (1889); it was recombined as Odontaspis (Synodontaspis) macrota by Dartevelle and Casier (1943), Casier (1946), Bauzá and Gómez Pallerola (1988); it was recombined as Odontaspis (Synodontaspis) macrotus by Casier (1958), Cassier (1966); it was recombined as Carcharias macrota by Long (1992), Long and Stilwell (2000); it was recombined as Striatolamia macrota by Cappetta and Nolf (1981), Bor (1985), Dutheil and Merle (1992), Zhelezko and Kozlov (1999), Cuny and Risnes (2005), Adnet (2006), Otero et al. (2013), Maisch et al. (2014), Pledge et al. (2015), Case et al. (2015), Cappetta and Case (2016), Ebersole et al. (2019), Cantalice et al. (2019), Rana et al. (2021), De Schutter and Steurbaut (2025), Popov et al. (2025).