Palaeocarcharodon

Palaeocarcharodon
Temporal range: Paleocene
Fossil teeth of Palaeocarcharodon orientalis (the largest three) from Khouribga (Morocco), along side teeth of Otodus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Class:Chondrichthyes
Order:Lamniformes
Family:†Cretoxyrhinidae
Genus:†Palaeocarcharodon
Casieer, 1960
Species: †P. orientalis
Binomial name
Palaeocarcharodon orientalis
(Sinzow, 1899)

Palaeocarcharodon, also known as the pygmy white shark, is a genus of sharks in the family Cretoxyrhinidae. Palaeocarcharodon orientalis is the only species of this genus. These sharks lived in the Paleocene, from 61.7 to 55.8 Ma.[1]

Description

Teeth of Palaeocarcharodon are triangular, labio-lingually compressed, with quite irregular serrations and serrate lateral cusplets. They can reach a size of about 3–6 centimetres (1.2–2.4 in).[2]

References

  1. ↑ Kordikova, E. G., Polly, P. D., Alifanov, V. A., Roček, Z., Gunnell, G. F., & Averianov, A. O. (2001). "Small vertebrates from the Late Cretaceous and early Tertiary of the northeastern Aral Sea Region, Kazakhstan". Journal of Paleontology. 75 (2): 390–400. doi:10.1666/0022-3360(2001)075<0390:svftlc>2.0.co;2.
  2. ↑ G. R. Case. - Palaeocarcharodon Orientalis (SINZOW) (Neoselachii: Cretoxyrhinidae), from the Paleocene of Maryland - Lab. de Paléontologie des Vertébrés, 1989


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