Sharks Codexery

Galeocerdo alabamensis

Extinct tiger-like shark known mainly from tooth fossils.

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This shark lived during the Eocene Epoch, and most of what we know about it comes from its fossilized teeth.[1][2] This extinct shark is a cousin of today's tiger shark.[3] This shark first appeared between 41.3 and 38.0 million years ago.[1] Its last appearance was between 37.2 and 33.9 million years ago.[1]

Scientific classification

  1. KingdomAnimalia
  2. PhylumChordata
  3. ClassChondrichthyes
  4. SubclassElasmobranchii
  5. DivisionSelachii
  6. OrderCarcharhiniformes
  7. FamilyGaleocerdonidae
  8. GenusGaleocerdo
  9. SpeciesGaleocerdo alabamensis

Named by Leriche, 1942

Close relatives

Other species of Galeocerdo with a Codexery entry.

Sources: Wikipedia taxobox: Galeocerdo alabamensis (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Quick Facts

Species
alabamensis

Facts from the source article.

Description

Its teeth are smaller and less robust than those of the modern tiger shark.[1]

Biology and ecology

Its tooth shape and the diet of similar sharks suggest it probably ate small bony fish and other small cartilaginous fishes like rays.[4] Like its modern relative, it likely reproduced through seasonal sexual reproduction.[5] The modern tiger shark is ovoviviparous—the young develop inside the mother and are born live—and this extinct species probably reproduced the same way.[5] A modern female tiger shark can have anywhere from 10 to 82 pups after a pregnancy lasting 13 to 16 months.[6]

Distribution and habitat

People have found fossils in Alabama, Arkansas, and Louisiana.[1]

Taxonomy and phylogeny

Scientists have debated the scientific name of this shark.[3] In 2019, researchers proposed it is more closely related to the genus Physogaleus, based mainly on tooth shape.[3] Some researchers have also suggested this species might be the same as Galeocerdo argyptiacus.[7] This species probably came before Galeocerdo aduncas.[2]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Galeocerdo alabamensis" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Mindat.org", www.mindat.org (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Galeocerdo alabamensis" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "elasmo.com", www.elasmo.com (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Galeocerdo alabamensis" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Cicimurri, "Late Eocene (Priabonian) elasmobranchs from the Dry Branch Formation (Barnwell Group) of Aiken County, South Carolina, USA", PaleoBios, 4 June 2019 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Galeocerdo alabamensis" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Tiger Shark Facts and Information", www.fossilguy.com (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Galeocerdo alabamensis" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Galeocerdo cuvier", Florida Museum, 2017-05-08; Whitney, "Reproductive biology of the tiger shark (Galeocerdo cuvier) in Hawaii", Marine Biology, March 2007, p. 63–70 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  6. "Galeocerdo cuvier", Florida Museum, 2017-05-08. facts only, no text reused. floridamuseum.ufl.edu
  7. Wikipedia, "Galeocerdo alabamensis" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Türtscher, "Evolution, diversity, and disparity of the tiger shark lineage Galeocerdo in deep time", Paleobiology, November 2021, p. 574–590; Collareta, "Did the giant extinct shark Carcharocles megalodon target small prey? Bite marks on marine mammal remains from the late Miocene of Peru", Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 1 March 2017, p. 84; Türtscher, "Evolution, diversity, and disparity of the tiger shark lineage Galeocerdo in deep time", Paleobiology, November 2021, p. 574–590 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Galeocerdo alabamensis (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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Sources

Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

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