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Carcharhinus leucas (bull shark)
Taxonomy
Carcharias leucas was named by Valenciennes (1839). It is extant.
It was recombined as Carcharhinus leucas by Purdy et al. (2001), Antunes and Balbino (2004), Marsili (2007), Cook et al. (2010), García et al. (2011), Ávila et al. (2012), Carrillo-Briceño et al. (2015), Carrillo-Briceño et al. (2015), Betancort et al. (2016), Landini et al. (2017), Kent (2018), Landini et al. (2019), Nakai (2020), Lin et al. (2022), Maisch IV et al. (2025), Cantalice et al. (2025).
It was recombined as Carcharhinus leucas by Purdy et al. (2001), Antunes and Balbino (2004), Marsili (2007), Cook et al. (2010), García et al. (2011), Ávila et al. (2012), Carrillo-Briceño et al. (2015), Carrillo-Briceño et al. (2015), Betancort et al. (2016), Landini et al. (2017), Kent (2018), Landini et al. (2019), Nakai (2020), Lin et al. (2022), Maisch IV et al. (2025), Cantalice et al. (2025).
Sister species lacking formal opinion data
Synonymy list
| Year | Name and author |
|---|---|
| 1839 | Carcharias leucas Valenciennes |
| 2001 | Carcharhinus leucas Purdy et al. p. 151 |
| 2004 | Carcharhinus leucas Antunes and Balbino p. 86 figs. 6h-i, 7a,b |
| 2007 | Carcharhinus leucas Marsili p. 83 figs. Pl 1, figs 11-15 |
| 2010 | Carcharhinus leucas Cook et al. p. 81 fig. 3B |
| 2011 | Carcharhinus leucas García et al. p. 482 figs. 6c-f |
| 2012 | Carcharhinus leucas Ávila et al. p. 181 fig. 8 |
| 2015 | Carcharhinus leucas Carrillo-Briceño et al. p. 10 figs. 4K-Q |
| 2015 | Carcharhinus leucas Carrillo-Briceño et al. p. 61 fig. 6E,F |
| 2016 | Carcharhinus leucas Betancort et al. p. 8 figs. 6F1, 6F2 |
| 2017 | Carcharhinus leucas Landini et al. p. 178 figs. 4K-N |
| 2018 | Carcharhinus leucas Kent p. 115 |
| 2019 | Carcharhinus leucas Landini et al. p. 361 |
| 2020 | Carcharhinus leucas Nakai p. 10 figs. 2.2-2.4 |
| 2022 | Carcharhinus leucas Lin et al. p. 13 fig. 9 |
| 2025 | Carcharhinus leucas Cantalice et al. p. 7 |
| 2025 | Carcharhinus leucas Maisch IV et al. p. 28 |
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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.
Carcharhinus leucas Valenciennes 1839 [bull shark]
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Diagnosis
No diagnoses are available
Measurements
No measurements are available
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| Source: o = order, subp = subphylum | |||||
| References: Carroll 1988, Hendy et al. 2009, Wagner 2023 | |||||
Age range: base of the Chattian to the top of the Late/Upper Pleistocene or 27.30000 to 0.01170 Ma
Collections (54 total)
| Time interval | Ma | Country or state | Original ID and collection number |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chattian | USA (South Carolina) | Carcharhinus leucas (211540) | |
| Aquitanian - Langhian | USA (North Carolina) | Carcharhinus leucas (48887) | |
| Burdigalian | Egypt | Carcharhinus leucas (277336) | |
| Burdigalian | Peru (Ica) | Carcharhinus leucas (100330) | |
| Burdigalian | Peru | Carcharhinus leucas (167732) | |
| Middle Miocene | USA (Florida) | Carcharhinus leucas (161381) | |
| Serravallian | Venezuela | Carcharhinus leucas (277937 277938) | |
| Early/Lower Clarendonian | USA (Florida) | Carcharhinus leucas (161375 161377) | |
| Late/Upper Clarendonian | USA (Florida) | Carcharhinus leucas (18554) | |
| Tortonian | Venezuela | Carcharhinus leucas (200110 200111 277942 277943) | |
| Tortonian | Panama | Carcharhinus leucas (96700) | |
| Tortonian | Panama (Colon) | Carcharhinus leucas (160565) | |
| Tortonian | Peru | Carcharhinus leucas (277545 277546 277548) | |
| Late/Upper Miocene | Peru (Piura) | Carcharhinus leucas (162465) | |
| Late/Upper Miocene | USA (Florida) | Carcharhinus leucas (162452) | |
| Tortonian - Messinian | Venezuela | Carcharhinus leucas (277945) | |
| Late/Upper Miocene - Early/Lower Pliocene | Mexico (Yucatan) | Carcharhinus leucas (239046) | |
| Late/Upper Miocene - Early/Lower Pliocene | USA (Florida) | Carcharhinus leucas (276265) | |
| Tortonian - Zanclean | Panama (Colon) | Carcharhinus leucas (168112) | |
| Hemphillian | USA (Florida) | Carcharhinus leucas (18556) | |
| Messinian | Venezuela | Carcharhinus leucas (277946) | |
| Messinian | Portugal | Carcharhinus leucas (91423) | |
| Messinian | Portugal (Alvalade) | Carcharhinus leucas, Carcharhinus obscurus (65955) | |
| Zanclean | Spain (Andalusia) | Carcharhinus leucas (232725) | |
| Zanclean | Spain (Huelva) | Carcharhinus leucas (151889 276726) | |
| Zanclean | USA (Florida) | Carcharhinus leucas (46369) | |
| Zanclean | Spain | Carcharhinus leucas (276710 276713 276715) | |
| Zanclean | Japan | Carcharhinus leucas (278461) | |
| Zanclean | Mexico (Baja California Sur) | Carcharhinus leucas (154117) | |
| Zanclean | USA (North Carolina) | Carcharhinus leucas (52582) | |
| Zanclean | Portugal | Carcharhinus leucas (152330 154210) | |
| Pliocene | Mexico (Baja California) | Carcharhinus leucas (96587) | |
| Pliocene | Venezuela | Carcharhinus leucas (277948) | |
| Blancan | Mexico (Baja California Sur) | Carcharhinus leucas (154118) | |
| Early/Lower Pleistocene | USA (South Carolina) | Carcharhinus leucas (188304) | |
| Calabrian | Taiwan | Carcharhinus leucas (275913) | |
| Calabrian | USA (Florida) | Carcharhinus leucas (20400 20402) | |
| Irvingtonian | USA (Florida) | Carcharhinus leucas (58089) | |
| Late/Upper Pleistocene (interglacial) | USA (Georgia) | Carcharhinus leucas (20604 20613) | |
| Late/Upper Pleistocene | Brazil (Rio Grand do Sul) | Carcharhinus leucas (211308) | |
| Late/Upper Pleistocene | USA (Alabama) | Carcharhinus leucas (187584) |