Carcharhinus plumbeus

The sandbar shark, also known as the brown shark or thickskin shark, is a species of requiem shark, and part of the family Carcharhinidae, native to the Atlantic Ocean and the Indo-Pacific. It is distinguishable by its very high first dorsal fin and interdorsal ridge. It is not to be confused with the similarly named sand tiger shark, or Carcharias taurus.

Carcharhinus plumbeus

Brian Gratwicke · 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
sandbar sharkPBDB
Sits inside
CarcharhinusPBDB
Diet
carnivorePBDB, for Carcharhiniformes
Life habit
nektonicPBDB, for Carcharhiniformes
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Carcharhiniformes

Time the record covers

At least 15 million years on record.

The record covers at least 15.98 Mya to 11.7 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 23.04 Mya to 0 Mya.

Oligocene — about 0 of 26 occurrencesMiocene — about 11 of 26 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 8 of 26 occurrencesPliocenePleistocene — about 6 of 26 occurrencesPleistocene24–23 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences23–22 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences22–21 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences21–20 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences20–20 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences20–19 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences19–18 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences18–17 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences17–16 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences16–16 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences16–15 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences15–14 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences14–13 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences13–13 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences13–12 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences12–11 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences11–10 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences10–9.4 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences9.4–8.6 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences8.6–7.8 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences7.8–7.1 Mya — about 0.9 occurrences7.1–6.3 Mya — about 1 occurrence6.3–5.5 Mya — about 1 occurrence5.5–4.7 Mya — about 3 occurrences4.7–3.9 Mya — about 3 occurrences3.9–3.1 Mya — about 2 occurrences3.1–2.4 Mya — about 1 occurrence2.4–1.6 Mya — about 1 occurrence1.6–785 ka Mya — about 3 occurrences785 ka–0 Mya — about 2 occurrences15.98 Mya11.7 ka23.5 Mya0 Mya

26 occurrences of Carcharhinus plumbeus 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

26 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

16 formations

Arenas de Huelva — 37.33°N, 6.68°WArenas de Huelva — 37.27°N, 6.84°WEsbarrondadoiro — 38.17°N, 8.17°WEsbarrondadoiro — 39.30°N, 8.12°WChucunaque — 9.14°N, 78.75°WArgille Azzurre — 43.31°N, 11.49°EArgille Azzurre — 44.28°N, 11.65°EBermont — 27.70°N, 82.50°WDam — 25.98°N, 49.39°EYorktown — 35.36°N, 76.82°WPungo River — 35.40°N, 76.80°WGatun — 9.35°N, 79.84°WAlachua — 29.65°N, 82.60°WChagres Sandstone — 9.28°N, 80.04°WLiuchungchi — 23.44°N, 120.59°EDuho — 36.10°N, 129.40°ECodore — 11.27°N, 70.28°WSabbie di nugola Vecchia — 43.56°N, 10.53°EOgushi — 32.51°N, 130.19°E

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The named rock units Carcharhinus plumbeus has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 4 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Carcharhinus plumbeus and its relatives

Miocene

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

Found in the same rock

924 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 24 sites for Carcharhinus plumbeus, 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

20 references

Each of the 26 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. 8 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 content2

Picture of Carcharhinus plumbeus

Credit
Brian Gratwicke
Licence
CC BY 2.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

Photogrammetry

Licence
not stated by the source
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record
Specimen
Carcharhinus plumbeus · UF:Fish:108719

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. (Nardo 1827)