Great White Shark Gallery - The Prehistoric Mako and White Sharks - Great White Shark Fossil History, Evolution, Facts, Fossil Shark Teeth, and Information

Information about Prehistoric White Sharks

The History and Evolution of The Great White Shark (Charcarodon) in a nutshell

For years paleontologists have hotly debated the origins of the Great White shark. Due to relatively new fossil finds in Peru and new finds of associated partial dentitions of Mako and Megatooth shark species, it has become clear that Carcharodon Carcharias, the Great White shark, evolved from an ancestral Mako shark. Some of the evidence includes the following:

1. In 2006, Nyberg et al, did a morphometric analysis (a very detailed structure analysis) of various carcharocles species, Mako species, transition fossils, and Great Whites. They concluded great whites evolved from ancestral Mako sharks and not the Megatooth sharks.

2. During the late 1990's, associated partial fossil dentitions of C. carcharias, C. hastalis, C. megalodon, and C. angustidens were found. These finds show that Great White dentitions look nearly identical to dentitions of Makos, not Megatooth sharks. View Jim Bourdon's article on "Great White evolution" at Elasmo.com for images of an associated Great White dentition from the Sacaco region in Peru.

3. The fossil record from the Pisco formation in the Sacaco region of Peru nicely shows the evolution of Great Whites. First there are broad-form Makos, then Makos with serrations, then Great Whites, all in chronological order. Aside from serrations, the teeth are virtually identical. Refer to Lutz Andres' article for more information on this.

To reflect the evolution of Makos to Great Whites, the ancestral Makos that gave rise to Great Whites are given the genus name “Cosmopolitodus” instead of “Isurus” by some Paleontologists. Now we can call these "Mako" sharks White sharks. Therefore, for clarity, the Cosmopolitodus = Great White shark lineage and the Isurus = Mako shark lineage.

One may now be wondering if all the other large sharks with serrations have anything to do with Great White evolution.

Well no, nature invented serrations and Great White looking sharks many times in the fossil record. None of these creatures survive to today. Think of them as extinct White Sharks.

Notable "extinct Whites" include:

Cosmopolitodus escheri aka Isurus escheri: This is a White shark with very fine serrations. It is sometimes thought to be a "transition" from Mako to Great White. However, it appears too early in the Miocene for it to be a "transitional" fossil. This shark became extinct by the middle of the Pliocene, and is a dead end link. One can think of this as a failed cousin to the modern Great White shark.

Paleocarcharodon orientalis: This is a medium sized serrated Mako/Mackerel looking shark with side cusps. It is found worldwide and was a very short lived species. It appeared and then disappeared in the Paleocene, and is a dead end link. It is not related at all to modern Great White sharks.
If you want to see what one of these fossil shark teeth looked like, go to the Potomac River page of this website, and look at the "Sample of fossils found" section.

Carcharocles sp.: The whole lineage of Megatooth sharks is extinct. These serrated monsters arose in the Eocene and became extinct in the Pliocene. The whole genus is a dead end link, and not related to modern Great White sharks. These super predators simply became too specialized for their own good.

Composite Dentition of an Extinct Giant White Shark

The genus Cosmopolitodus first appeared in the Oligocene. It is represented by scarce fossil teeth found in Belgium. By the Miocene, there were two types of Cosmopolitodus: a broad-form shark, C. xiphodon, and a narrow-form shark, C. hastalis. Both of these sharks became extinct by the middle of the Pliocene.

C. xiphodon aka I. xiphodon aka I hastalis broad-form: This is the broad-form extinct Giant White shark. This is the largest of the Cosmopolitodus lineage. It appeared in the Miocene and became extinct in the mid Pliocene. Teeth from these predators can reach sizes over 3". This top predator became extinct just as the modern Great White became more common. This is probably not a coincidence; they would have probably lived in the same environments and had the same food source, and therefore competed. The modern Great White with serrated teeth would have had an advantage over the C. xiphodon with non-serrated teeth.

C. hastalis aka I. hastalis narrow-form: This is the narrow-form extinct Giant White shark. This is another large Cosmopolitodus species. The teeth of this species tend to be slightly narrower than the teeth of C. xiphodon. It was around during the same time period as C. xiphodon, from the Miocene into the mid Pliocene.

In the middle Miocene, C. hastalis gave rise to two new species: C. planus and C. escheri.

C. planus aka I. planus: C. planus was a species that has hastalis looking teeth, but with upper teeth that are hooked. C. planus was a short lived species; it became extinct at the end of the Miocene. C. planus remains are also only found in Pacific sediments, such as California and Japan.

C. escheri aka I. escheri: C. escheri was an hastalis with very weak serrations. It ranges from the late Miocene into early Pliocene, and is found only in Atlantic deposits, such as in the Netherlands. Although C. escheri had developed slight serrations, it is not a transitional fossil for the modern Great White shark.

Carcharodon carcharias: The Great White shark probably originated either in the late Miocene or early Pliocene, depending if one places the transitional fossils into Carcharodon genus or Cosmopolitodus genus. The fossil record from the Pisco formation in the Sacaco region of Peru shows the evolution of Great Whites nicely. There are broad-form "Makos," "Makos" with serrations, then Great Whites, all in chronological order. Aside from the serrations, the teeth and dentitions are all virtually identical. For more information on this, see Lutz Andres' article.

The modern Great White shark, C. carcharias, is a top predator today. Besides the plankton-feeding Basking and Whale sharks, Great Whites are among the largest of flesh- eating sharks (The Greenland shark may be slightly larger). According to the FAO, Great Whites range on average between 4 feet (1.3 m) and 18 feet (5.5m). As for the largest one ever caught, the Canadian Shark Research Laboratory reports the largest Great White ever accurately measured was 20.6 feet (6.3 m), although there are allot of "fish tales" in pop culture of larger ones. Monster 3" Fossil Great White teeth indicate they could reach lengths in the mid 20 foot (7.5 m) range.

Great Whites are usually found near shore and globally in all tropical and temperate waters. In the Americas, they range from southern Alaska and Nova Scotia down to Chile. In Eurasia, they range from Russia to New Zealand, and Britain to South Africa. Famous Great White locations include California, Australia, and South Africa.

Great Whites favorite food consists of pinnipeds, such as sea lions. Populations of Great Whites can often be found near sea lion colonies. Although pinnipeds are their favorite meal, they will eat just about anything, but I didn't have to tell you that!

Isurus oxyrinchus, an extant Mako shark is thought by some to be the same as I. desori, an extinct mako shark. Therefore, I oxyrinchus may be synonymous with I desori.

These teeth are also very similar to I. paucus, the other extant Mako shark. It is currently being debated wether or not some Isurus tooth forms are of I paucus. If I paucus is to be differentiated from I oxyrinchus in the fossil specimens, the differences are very slight, and will not be discussed here.

I oxyrinchus upper teeth are have long, slender crowns. Their roots are long in the anterior section of the mouth and become more squarish as the teeth transition to laterals. Also the crowns of upper laterals tend to be broader than the upper anteriors.

Lower teeth also have long, slender crowns that have a lingual bend. The crowns however remain more peg-like as the teeth transition to laterals.

Below are two diagrams, one of an upper anterior tooth, and one of a lower anterior tooth.

I. oxyrinchus upper A2 tooth from the Pungo formation near Aurora, NC


I. oxyrinchus lower A3 tooth from the Calvert CLiffs of MD

Cosmopolitodus hastalis teeth have broader crowns than I. oxyrinchus teeth. The roots are also more compressed, or less elongated, than on I. oxyrinchus teeth.

Below are two diagrams, one of an upper anterior tooth, and one of a lower anterior tooth.


C. hastalis upper tooth from the calvert formation along the Potomac River, Va


C hastalis lower tooth from the Pungo River formation near Aurora, NC


The image below shows composite rows of upper and lower teeth for C. hastalis. This image shows how the teeth change depending on the position in the mouth.