Alopias grandis

Alopias grandis Temporal range: Miocene PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N [1]
Fossilized tooth
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Chondrichthyes
Subclass:	Elasmobranchii
Division:	Selachii
Order:	Lamniformes
Family:	Alopiidae
Genus:	Alopias
Species:	A. grandis
Binomial name
Alopias grandis Leriche, 1942
Synonyms [2]
Alopecias grandis

Reconstruction of A. grandis (top), with megalodon (bottom) for comparison

Alopias grandis is a species of giant thresher shark from the Miocene. Estimates calculated from teeth comparisons suggest the living animal was comparable in size to the extant great white shark. ^[3]

Description

It is unlikely it possessed the elongated tail lobe of modern thresher sharks. ^[3] Some specimens in the Burdigalian show the beginnings of serrations, which are presumably transitional individuals between A. grandis and A.palatasi. ^[4]

Distribution

Remains generally consist of teeth, which have been found in the United States in the Calvert Formation of Virginia and Maryland, ^[5] and in Beaufort County, South Carolina. ^[3] They have also been found in the Miocene of Malta, ^[4] as well as in southern Italy. ^[6]

References

1. "†Alopecias grandis Leriche 1942 (mackerel shark)". The Paleobiology Database.
2. "Alopecias grandis Leriche 1942 (mackerel shark)". PBDB.
3. Ward, D. J.; Kent, B. W. (2015). "A new giant species of thresher shark from the Miocene of the United States". Natural History Museum. doi:10.13140/RG.2.1.1723.0969.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
4. Godfrey, S. J. (Ed.). (2018). The Geology and Vertebrate Paleontology of Calvert Cliffs, Maryland, USA. Smithsonian Institution Scholarly Press.
5. "Nomini Cliffs, Zone 14-16 (Miocene of the United States)". PBDB.
6. Collareta, Alberto; Merella, Marco; Nobile, Francesco; Peri, Emanuele; Bianucci, Giovanni (31 August 2023). "Alopias grandis (Leriche, 1942) from the Miocene of Italy: insights on a rare species of giant thresher shark". Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie - Abhandlungen . 309 (2): 93–103. doi:10.1127/njgpa/2023/1151. ISSN   0077-7749 . Retrieved 30 June 2025– via Schweizerbart Science Publishers.