Carcharodon carcharias

The great white shark, also known as the white shark, white pointer, or great white, is a large shark. It is closely related to the mako sharks, the porbeagle, and the salmon shark. It is a robustly built species with a grayish upperside and a white underside. The white shark is one of the largest living shark and fish species, though it is still smaller than the whale shark and basking shark. It has about 300 triangular, serrated teeth that are continuously replaced. Its massive, fatty liver can reach over a quarter of its body weight, providing buoyancy and storing energy. The species is partially warm-blooded, an adaptation that allows it to remain active in colder waters.

Carcharodon carcharias

Pterantula (Terry Goss) at en.wikipedia · CC BY 2.5 · 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
great white sharkPBDB
Sits inside
CarcharodonPBDB
Diet
carnivorePBDB, for Lamniformes
Life habit
nektonicPBDB, for Lamniformes
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Lamniformes
Mass
2400 poundWikidata

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 127 occurrencesMiocene — about 32 of 127 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 62 of 127 occurrencesPliocenePleistocene — about 29 of 127 occurrencesPleistocene24–23 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences23–22 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences22–21 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences21–20 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences20–20 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences20–19 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences19–18 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences18–17 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences17–16 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences16–16 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences16–15 Mya — about 1 occurrence15–14 Mya — about 1 occurrence14–13 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences13–13 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences13–12 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences12–11 Mya — about 1 occurrence11–10 Mya — about 1 occurrence10–9.4 Mya — about 1 occurrence9.4–8.6 Mya — about 2 occurrences8.6–7.8 Mya — about 2 occurrences7.8–7.1 Mya — about 3 occurrences7.1–6.3 Mya — about 6 occurrences6.3–5.5 Mya — about 6 occurrences5.5–4.7 Mya — about 13 occurrences4.7–3.9 Mya — about 15 occurrences3.9–3.1 Mya — about 19 occurrences3.1–2.4 Mya — about 17 occurrences2.4–1.6 Mya — about 6 occurrences1.6–785 ka Mya — about 6 occurrences785 ka–0 Mya — about 19 occurrences15.98 Mya11.7 ka23.5 Mya0 Mya

127 occurrences of Carcharodon carcharias on record, most of them in the Pliocene. 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

127 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

60 formations

Palos Verdes Sand — 34.00°N, 118.20°WPalos Verdes Sand — 33.66°N, 117.90°WPalos Verdes Sand — 33.99°N, 118.45°WPalos Verdes Sand — 33.60°N, 117.88°WPalos Verdes Sand — 33.75°N, 118.29°WArgille Azzurre — 44.49°N, 11.03°EArgille Azzurre — 44.30°N, 11.57°EArgille Azzurre — 44.26°N, 11.66°EBahía Inglesa — 27.08°S, 70.84°WBahía Inglesa — 27.14°S, 70.88°WPurisima — 37.29°N, 122.41°WOgikubo — 36.67°N, 138.09°ESan Mateo — 33.20°N, 117.37°WLuanda — 8.76°S, 13.30°ENiguel — 33.64°N, 117.89°WPisco — 15.58°S, 74.72°WBermont — 27.70°N, 82.50°WUpper Bhuban — 22.88°N, 92.73°EUpper Bhuban — 23.00°N, 93.00°ETowsley — 34.36°N, 118.51°WSan Diego — 32.49°N, 117.12°WTirabuzón — 27.37°N, 112.29°WRefugio — 23.17°N, 109.62°WSenhata — 35.16°N, 139.86°ENaganuma — 35.38°N, 139.54°EHorcón — 32.70°S, 71.46°WJizodo — 35.48°N, 140.20°EJizodo — 35.36°N, 140.02°EZushi — 35.29°N, 139.57°EYorktown — 33.79°N, 77.65°WYorktown — 33.58°N, 77.42°WGatun — 9.35°N, 79.80°WAlmejas — 28.11°N, 115.18°WSanuki — 35.38°N, 139.52°E

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The named rock units Carcharodon carcharias has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 36 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 31 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Carcharodon carcharias and its relatives

Pliocene

Where Carcharodon carcharias and its relatives were recorded in the Pliocene.

Found in the same rock

1,986 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 117 sites for Carcharodon carcharias, 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

86 references

Each of the 127 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. 74 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 Carcharodon carcharias

Credit
Pterantula (Terry Goss) at en.wikipedia
Licence
CC BY 2.5
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
Carcharodon carcharias · L-MEP:W153_322.6FL_male

3D model

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

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 itCarcharodon through timeFormations of the PlioceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. (Linnaeus 1758)