Occurrence of the Megatoothed sharks (Lamniformes:Otodontidae) in Alabama, USA

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1 University of Alabama Museum of Natural History, Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA
2 Collections Department, McWane Science Center, Birmingham, Alabama, USA
DOI
10.7287/peerj.preprints.517v1
Published
Accepted
Subject Areas
Paleontology
Keywords
Paleocene, Otodus, Carcharocles, Eocene, Alabama
Copyright
© 2014 Ehret et al.
Licence
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, reproduction and adaptation in any medium and for any purpose provided that it is properly attributed. For attribution, the original author(s), title, publication source (PeerJ PrePrints) and either DOI or URL of the article must be cited.
Cite this article
Ehret DJ, Ebersole JA. 2014. Occurrence of the Megatoothed sharks (Lamniformes:Otodontidae) in Alabama, USA. PeerJ PrePrints 2:e517v1

Abstract

The Otodontidae include some of the largest sharks to ever live in the world’s oceans (i.e. Carcharocles megalodon). Here we report on Paleocene and Eocene occurrences of Otodus obliquus and Carcharocles auriculatus from Alabama, USA. Teeth of Otodus are rarely encountered in the Gulf Coastal Plain and this report is one of the first records for Alabama. Carcharocles auriculatus is more common in the Eocene deposits of Alabama, but its occurrence has been largely overlooked in the literature. We also refute the occurrence of the Oligocene Carcharocles angustidens in the state. Raised awareness and increased collecting of under-sampled geologic formations in Alabama will likely increase sample sizes of O. obliquus and C. auriculatus and also might unearth other otodontids, such as C. megalodon and C. chubutensis.

Author Comment

This manuscript documents the stratigraphic occurrences of Otodus obliquus and Carcharocles auriculatus in Alabama. It also refutes previously published records of Carcharocles angustidens from the state. This manuscript is important for documenting the provenience of specimens from Alabama, as well as, giving valuable information regarding the stratigraphic records from the state. It has been accepted for publication at PeerJ.