Carcharhinus brachyurus

The copper shark, bronze whaler, or narrowtooth shark is a species of requiem shark found mostly in temperate latitudes. It is distributed in a number of separate populations in the northeastern and southwestern Atlantic, off southern Africa, in the northwestern and eastern Pacific, and around Australia and New Zealand, with scattered reports from equatorial regions. The species can be found from brackish rivers and estuaries to shallow bays and harbors, to offshore waters 100 m (330 ft) deep or more. Females are found apart from males for most of the year, and conduct seasonal migrations. A large species reaching 3.3 m (11 ft) long, the copper shark is difficult to distinguish from other large requiem sharks. It is characterized by its narrow, hook-shaped upper teeth, lack of a prominent ridge between the dorsal fins, and plain bronze coloration.

Carcharhinus brachyurus

Robert Nyman · CC BY 2.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Also called
copper sharkPBDB
Sits inside
CarcharhinusPBDB
Diet
carnivorePBDB, for Carcharhiniformes
Life habit
nektonicPBDB, for Carcharhiniformes
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Carcharhiniformes

Time the record covers

At least 20 million years on record.

The record covers at least 20.45 Mya to 11.7 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 23.04 Mya to 0 Mya.

Oligocene — about 0 of 44 occurrencesMiocene — about 25 of 44 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 8 of 44 occurrencesPliocenePleistocene — about 9 of 44 occurrencesPleistocene24–23 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences23–22 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences22–21 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences21–20 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences20–20 Mya — about 1 occurrence20–19 Mya — about 1 occurrence19–18 Mya — about 1 occurrence18–17 Mya — about 1 occurrence17–16 Mya — about 1 occurrence16–16 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences16–15 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences15–14 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences14–13 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences13–13 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences13–12 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences12–11 Mya — about 2 occurrences11–10 Mya — about 2 occurrences10–9.4 Mya — about 2 occurrences9.4–8.6 Mya — about 2 occurrences8.6–7.8 Mya — about 2 occurrences7.8–7.1 Mya — about 2 occurrences7.1–6.3 Mya — about 2 occurrences6.3–5.5 Mya — about 2 occurrences5.5–4.7 Mya — about 2 occurrences4.7–3.9 Mya — about 2 occurrences3.9–3.1 Mya — about 2 occurrences3.1–2.4 Mya — about 3 occurrences2.4–1.6 Mya — about 3 occurrences1.6–785 ka Mya — about 1 occurrence785 ka–0 Mya — about 6 occurrences20.45 Mya11.7 ka23.5 Mya0 Mya

44 occurrences of Carcharhinus brachyurus on record, most of them in the Miocene. The Paleobiology Database records this as a living group. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

44 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

22 formations

Horcón — 32.70°S, 71.46°WPisco — 14.59°S, 75.66°WPisco — 14.34°S, 75.91°WChilcatay — 14.59°S, 75.66°WChilcatay — 14.62°S, 75.63°WPalos Verdes Sand — 33.66°N, 117.90°WPalos Verdes Sand — 33.99°N, 118.45°WPalos Verdes Sand — 33.60°N, 117.88°WSeria — 4.81°N, 114.67°ELoxton — 34.15°S, 139.91°EBatesford Limestone — 38.09°S, 144.28°EBlack Rock Sandstone — 37.99°S, 145.04°EPungo River — 35.40°N, 76.80°WTirabuzón — 27.37°N, 112.29°WRefugio — 23.17°N, 109.62°WCalvert — 39.20°N, 75.60°WMiramar — 5.19°S, 80.63°WChagres Sandstone — 9.28°N, 80.04°WAngostura — 0.88°N, 78.83°WPalos Verdes — 33.63°N, 117.90°WCarrillo Puerto — 21.17°N, 89.19°WCacela — 37.08°N, 8.23°WCantaure — 11.94°N, 70.02°WBahía Inglesa — 27.16°S, 70.89°WTunga — 14.27°S, 76.05°WSaloum — 14.96°N, 17.05°W

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The named rock units Carcharhinus brachyurus has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 7 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Carcharhinus brachyurus and its relatives

Miocene

Where Carcharhinus brachyurus and its relatives were recorded in the Miocene.

Found in the same rock

1,338 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 43 sites for Carcharhinus brachyurus, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

30 references

Each of the 44 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. 18 further references are not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content1

Picture of Carcharhinus brachyurus

Credit
Robert Nyman
Licence
CC BY 2.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

No 3D scan of Carcharhinus brachyurus was found in MorphoSource and Sketchfab.

Smithsonian Open Access was not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itCarcharhinus through timeFormations of the MioceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. (Gunther 1870)