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.
Highlights
The megatoothed sharks (Family Otodontidae) are well known in the marine fossil record of the Paleocene through Pliocene
The fossil record of otodontid sharks in Alabama has gone largely unreported in the literature
This study represents the first reliable report of Otodus from Alabama, with specimens identified from multiple localities
Summary
The megatoothed sharks (Family Otodontidae) are well known in the marine fossil record of the Paleocene through Pliocene. While C. megalodon is probably the most abundant and widely recognized species, other species of Otodus and Carcharocles are less often reported in the literature, which may have had a negative affect on the distribution and abundance of these species (Cappetta, 2012). This discrepancy might be related to a sampling bias, the familiarity of C. megalodon compared with other megatoothed species, or it might reflect the dispersal patterns of these other otodontid species. We present and discuss records of O. obliquus and C. auriculatus (Blainville, 1818) in the Paleocene and Eocene of Alabama, respectively
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