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Otodus megalodon (megalodon)

Chondrichthyes - Lamniformes - Otodontidae

Synonyms
Synonymy list
YearName and author
1835Carcharias megalodon Agassiz figs. Pl 29, figs 1-7
1837Carcharias megalodon Charlesworth p. 225 figs. Fig. 24
1839Carcharias rectidens Agassiz figs. Pl 30a, fig 10
1843Carcharodon megalodon Agassiz p. 247 figs. Plate XXIX
1843Carcharodon rectidens Agassiz p. 250
1847Carcharodon megalodon Gibbes p. 143
1858Carcharodon ferox Emmons p. 227 figs. Fig. 50
1858Carcharodon triangularis Emmons p. 232 figs. Fig. 59
1868Carcharodon megalodon Cope p. 142
1888Carcharodon megalodon Davis p. 12
1889Carcharodon megalodon Woodward p. 415
1894Carcharodon megalodon Hector p. 116
1902Carcharodon megalodon Hay p. 308
1904Carcharodon megalodon Chapman and Pritchard p. 284
1904Carcharodon megalodon Eastman p. 82
1908Carcharodon megalodon Eastman p. 186
1918Carcharodon megalodon Chapman p. 19
1919Carcharodon megalodon Jordan and Gilbert p. 22
1924Carcharodon megalodon Chapman and Cudmore p. 133
1926Carcharodon megalodon Leriche p. 412
1927Carcharodon megalodon Arambourg p. 224
1938Carcharodon megalodon Leriche p. 8
1942Carcharodon megalodon Leriche p. 74
1958Carcharodon megalodon Casier p. 70
1960Procarcharodon megalodon Casier
1964Megaselachus megalodon Gilkman
1996Carcharodon megalodon Applegate and Espinosa-Arrubarrena p. 31
1996Carcharodon megalodon Gottfried et al. p. 57
1998Carcharocles megalodon Yabe and Hirayama p. 46
2001Carcharodon megalodon Donovan and Gunter p. 212
2001Carcharodon megalodon Purdy et al. p. 131
2003Carcharocles megalodon Antunes and Balbino p. 144
2003Carcharodon megalodon Nieves-Rivera et al. p. 224
2003Carcharodon megalodon Vicens and Rodríguez-Perea p. 123
2004Carcharodon megalodon Aguilera and de Aguilera p. 368
2005Procarcharodon megalodon dos Reis p. 41
2007Megaselachus megalodon Cahuzac et al. p. 18
2009Carcharocles megalodon Ehret et al. p. 3
2010Carcharocles megalodon Pimiento et al. p. 3
2012Carcharocles megalodon Ehret et al.
2015Megaselachus megalodon Antunes et al. p. 182
2015Otodus megalodon Reinecke and Radwanski p. 9
2016Carcharocles megalodon Boessenecker p. 3
2016Otodus megalodon Trif et al. p. 510
2017Carcharocles megalodon Hastings and Dooley p. 83
2018Carcharocles megalodon Kent p. 88
2019Otodus megalodon Boessenecker et al. p. 8
2020Otodus megalodon Maisch et al. p. 122
2021Carcharocles megalodon Miller et al. p. 1

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RankNameAuthor
kingdomAnimalia()
Bilateria
EubilateriaAx 1987
Life
Deuterostomia
phylumChordataHaeckel 1874
subphylumVertebrata
superclassGnathostomata
classChondrichthyes
RankNameAuthor
subclassElasmobranchiiBonaparte 1838
infraclassEuselachii()
NeoselachiiCompagno 1977
superorderGaleomorphiiCompagno 1973
orderLamniformesBerg 1958
familyOtodontidae
genusOtodus
speciesmegalodon()

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
ReferenceDiagnosis
N. Trif et al. 2016The 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. 2019Crowns 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.
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 09:05:21
Source: o = order, subp = subphylum
References: Wagner 2023, Carroll 1988, Hendy et al. 2009

Age range: base of the Early/Lower Paleocene to the top of the Waipipian or 66.00000 to 3.00000 Ma

Collections (288 total)

Oldest occurrences

Time interval Ma Country or state Original ID and collection number
Early/Lower Paleocene66.0 - 61.7USA (South Carolina) Carcharodon megalodon (152239)
Chattian28.1 - 23.03Australia (South Australia) Carcharodon megalodon (159889)
Chattian28.1 - 23.03Japan (Yamaguchi) Carcharodon megalodon (127382)
Aquitanian23.03 - 20.44Austria Carcharodon megalodon (76129)
Aquitanian23.03 - 20.44Malta (Bahrija) Carcharocles megalodon (161388)
Aquitanian23.03 - 20.44Italy Carcharodon megalodon (47623)
Aquitanian - Burdigalian23.03 - 15.97USA (North Carolina) Otodus megalodon (140191)
Early/Lower Miocene23.03 - 15.97USA (Florida) Carcharocles megalodon (161380)
Early/Lower Miocene23.03 - 15.97Slovakia Procarcharodon megalodon (47461)
Early/Lower Miocene23.03 - 15.97Japan (Nagano) Carcharodon megalodon (159664)

Youngest occurrences

Time interval Ma Country or state PBDB collection number
Pliocene5.333 - 2.588Antigua and Barbuda (Barbuda) Carcharodon megalodon (151880)
Pliocene5.333 - 2.588Angola Procarcharodon megalodon (154111)
Pliocene5.333 - 2.588Spain (Mallorca) Carcharodon megalodon (152234)
Pliocene5.333 - 2.588Argentina (Buenos Aires) Carcharocles megalodon (227411)
Zanclean - Piacenzian5.333 - 2.588Japan (Okinawa) Carcharodon megalodon (152398)
Zanclean - Piacenzian5.333 - 2.588USA (North Carolina) Otodus megalodon (219757 219778)
Opoitian - Castlecliffian5.333 - 0.34New Zealand (North Island) Carcharodon megalodon (152191)
Blancan4.9 - 1.8Mexico (Baja California Sur) Carcharodon megalodon (154118)
Waipipian3.6 - 3.0New Zealand (Hawera) Carcharodon megalodon (28039)
Late/Upper Pliocene3.6 - 2.588United Kingdom (England) Carcharocles megalodon (152481 152482 152483 152484)