Palaeocarcharodon

Palaeocarcharodon Temporal range: Paleocene, 61.7–55.8  Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Fossil teeth of Palaeocarcharodon orientalis (the largest three) from Khouribga (Morocco), alongside teeth of Otodus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Chondrichthyes
Subclass:	Elasmobranchii
Division:	Selachii
Order:	Lamniformes
Family:	† Otodontidae
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 shark within the family Otodontidae ^[1] that lived about 61.7 to 55.8 Ma during the Paleocene. It currently contains a sole species P. orientalis. ^[2]

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). ^[3]

• 
  Tooth of Palaeocarcharodon from Atlas mountain in Morocco. 60 mya, 3 cm long.

Size compared to human

References

1. Mikael Siverson; Johan Lindgren; Michael G. Newbrey; Peter Cederström; Todd D. Cook (2013). "Cenomanian–Campanian (Late Cretaceous) mid-palaeolatitude sharks of Cretalamna appendiculata type". Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. 60 (2): 339–384. CiteSeerX   10.1.1.1027.6182 . doi:10.4202/app.2012.0137. S2CID   58906204.
2. 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" (PDF). Journal of Paleontology. 75 (2): 390–400. Bibcode:2001JPal...75..390K. doi:10.1666/0022-3360(2001)075<0390:svftlc>2.0.co;2. S2CID   92986827.
3. G. R. Case. - Palaeocarcharodon Orientalis (SINZOW) (Neoselachii: Cretoxyrhinidae), from the Paleocene of Maryland - Lab. de Paléontologie des Vertébrés, 1989