Carcharhinus leucas

The bull shark, also known as the Zambezi shark in Africa and Lake Nicaragua shark in Nicaragua, is a species of requiem shark commonly found worldwide in warm, shallow waters along coasts and in rivers. It is known for its aggressive nature, and presence mainly in warm, shallow brackish and freshwater systems including estuaries and (usually) lower reaches of rivers. Their aggressive nature has led to ongoing shark-culling efforts near beaches to protect beachgoers, which is one of the causes of bull shark populations continuing to decrease. Bull sharks are listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List.

Carcharhinus leucas

João D'Andretta · CC BY 4.0 · 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
bull sharkPBDB
Sits inside
CarcharhinusPBDB
Diet
carnivorePBDB, for Carcharhiniformes
Life habit
nektonicPBDB, for Carcharhiniformes
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Carcharhiniformes

Time the record covers

At least 23 million years on record.

The record covers at least 23.04 Mya to 11.7 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 27.3 Mya to 0 Mya.

Oligocene — about 1 of 57 occurrencesOligoceneMiocene — about 30 of 57 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 16 of 57 occurrencesPliocenePleistocene — about 8 of 57 occurrencesPleistocene28–27 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences27–26 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences26–25 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences25–24 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences24–23 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences23–22 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences22–21 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences21–20 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences20–19 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences19–19 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences19–18 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences18–17 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences17–16 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences16–15 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences15–14 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences14–13 Mya — about 1.0 occurrences13–12 Mya — about 1 occurrence12–11 Mya — about 3 occurrences11–10 Mya — about 4 occurrences10–9.3 Mya — about 4 occurrences9.3–8.4 Mya — about 3 occurrences8.4–7.4 Mya — about 3 occurrences7.4–6.5 Mya — about 3 occurrences6.5–5.6 Mya — about 3 occurrences5.6–4.6 Mya — about 7 occurrences4.6–3.7 Mya — about 8 occurrences3.7–2.8 Mya — about 2 occurrences2.8–1.9 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences1.9–928 ka Mya — about 4 occurrences928 ka–0 Mya — about 5 occurrences23.04 Mya11.7 ka27.8 Mya0 Mya

57 occurrences of Carcharhinus leucas 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

57 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

27 formations

Urumaco — 11.19°N, 70.25°WUrumaco — 11.24°N, 70.25°WEsbarrondadoiro — 38.17°N, 8.17°WEsbarrondadoiro — 39.30°N, 8.12°WPisco — 14.35°S, 75.89°WAlachua — 29.55°N, 82.52°WAlachua — 29.65°N, 82.60°WBermont — 27.70°N, 82.50°WGatun — 9.35°N, 79.84°WGatun — 9.34°N, 79.88°WStatenville — 30.40°N, 83.00°WCaujarao — 11.50°N, 69.52°WChilcatay — 14.62°S, 75.63°WArenas de Huelva — 37.33°N, 6.68°WTamiami — 26.72°N, 81.67°WYorktown — 35.36°N, 76.82°WPungo River — 35.40°N, 76.80°WPeace River — 27.50°N, 82.50°WTirabuzón — 27.37°N, 112.29°WRefugio — 23.17°N, 109.62°WArcadia — 27.29°N, 82.53°WMiramar — 5.19°S, 80.63°WChagres Sandstone — 9.16°N, 80.29°WWaccamaw — 33.10°N, 80.31°WChandler Bridge — 32.96°N, 80.13°WCarrillo Puerto — 21.17°N, 89.19°WLiuchungchi — 23.44°N, 120.59°EMoghra — 30.33°N, 28.75°E

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Carcharhinus leucas has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 3 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 14 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Carcharhinus leucas and its relatives

Miocene

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

Found in the same rock

1,232 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 55 sites for Carcharhinus leucas, 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

37 references

Each of the 57 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. 25 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 content3

Picture of Carcharhinus leucas

Credit
João D'Andretta
Licence
CC BY 4.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

CT scan

Licence
not stated by the source
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record
Specimen
Carcharhinus leucas · uf:fish:246746

3D model

Source
Sketchfab
Credit
Nullified
Licence
CC Attribution
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record

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. (Valenciennes 1839)