Hemipristis serra

Hemipristis serra is an extinct species of weasel shark which existed during the Miocene epoch to the Late Middle Pleistocene epoch. It was described by Louis Agassiz in 1843. While today's snaggletooth shark is not very large or dangerous, Hemipristis serra, which lived in the Atlantic Ocean mainly during the Oligocene and Miocene with relict populations surviving up to the Late Middle Pleistocene in Sundaland was considerably larger than its modern-day relative and had much larger teeth. Its total length is estimated to be 6 metres (20 ft). Marks made by the teeth of H. serra are often found on the bones of the dugong Metaxytherium leading some scientists to hypothesize that H. serra specialized in preying on these sirenians. In the Gatun Formation of Panama, H. serra was contemporary with pups of the large lamniform shark Otodus megalodon, and both it and the great hammerhead are theorized to have preyed on the pups of this larger shark due to their presence within the formation.

Hemipristis serra

Smithsonian · CC0 · 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
Sits inside
HemipristisPBDB
Diet
carnivorePBDB, for Carcharhiniformes
Life habit
nektonicPBDB, for Carcharhiniformes
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Carcharhiniformes

Time the record covers

At least 47 million years on record.

The record covers at least 48.07 Mya to 129 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 56 Mya to 11.7 ka.

Paleocene — about 0 of 222 occurrencesEocene — about 5 of 222 occurrencesEoceneOligocene — about 11 of 222 occurrencesOligoceneMiocene — about 189 of 222 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 13 of 222 occurrencesPleistocene — about 4 of 222 occurrences57–55 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences55–53 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences53–51 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences51–50 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences50–48 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences48–46 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences46–44 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences44–42 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences42–40 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences40–38 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences38–36 Mya — about 1 occurrence36–34 Mya — about 2 occurrences34–32 Mya — about 2 occurrences32–30 Mya — about 2 occurrences30–29 Mya — about 2 occurrences29–27 Mya — about 2 occurrences27–25 Mya — about 3 occurrences25–23 Mya — about 4 occurrences23–21 Mya — about 13 occurrences21–19 Mya — about 18 occurrences19–17 Mya — about 20 occurrences17–15 Mya — about 21 occurrences15–13 Mya — about 25 occurrences13–11 Mya — about 31 occurrences11–9.5 Mya — about 20 occurrences9.5–7.6 Mya — about 18 occurrences7.6–5.7 Mya — about 18 occurrences5.7–3.8 Mya — about 14 occurrences3.8–1.9 Mya — about 3 occurrences1.9–0 Mya — about 4 occurrences48.07 Mya129 ka57 Mya0 Mya

222 occurrences of Hemipristis serra on record, most of them in the Miocene. 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

222 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

96 formations

Calvert — 38.54°N, 76.73°WCalvert — 38.55°N, 76.52°WCalvert — 38.64°N, 76.52°WCalvert — 38.67°N, 76.53°WCalvert — 38.40°N, 76.50°WCalvert — 38.17°N, 76.81°WCalvert — 37.54°N, 77.44°WCalvert — 39.20°N, 75.60°WCalvert — 37.93°N, 77.51°WGatun — 9.35°N, 79.80°WGatun — 9.35°N, 79.84°WGatun — 9.34°N, 79.88°WPirabas — 1.18°S, 47.22°WPirabas — 0.48°S, 48.17°WPirabas — 1.05°S, 47.16°WPirabas — 0.63°S, 47.54°WPirabas — 0.60°S, 47.31°WPirabas — 0.73°S, 47.49°WPirabas — 0.64°S, 47.38°WUrumaco — 11.25°N, 70.27°WUrumaco — 11.24°N, 70.25°WChucunaque — 9.13°N, 78.75°WChucunaque — 9.15°N, 78.78°WCantaure — 11.97°N, 70.02°WCantaure — 11.94°N, 70.02°WCulebra — 9.08°N, 79.68°WCulebra — 9.57°N, 79.65°WCulebra — 9.54°N, 79.66°WCulebra — 9.42°N, 79.65°WStatenville — 30.40°N, 83.00°WStatenville — 30.23°N, 82.63°WLagos-Portimão — 37.08°N, 8.28°WLagos-Portimão — 37.12°N, 8.54°WLagos-Portimão — 37.08°N, 8.67°WChilcatay — 14.77°S, 75.39°WChilcatay — 14.62°S, 75.63°WChoptank — 38.39°N, 76.57°WChoptank — 38.38°N, 76.50°WChoptank — 38.50°N, 76.51°WLuanda — 8.76°S, 13.30°EGlobigerina Limestone — 36.08°N, 14.24°EGlobigerina Limestone — 35.90°N, 14.33°EZushi — 35.26°N, 139.63°EZushi — 35.13°N, 139.62°EJaffna — 8.28°N, 79.82°EParana — 31.38°S, 60.23°WParana — 32.08°S, 60.49°WCarrillo Puerto — 21.07°N, 89.72°WCarrillo Puerto — 21.17°N, 89.19°WChandler Bridge — 33.03°N, 80.27°WChandler Bridge — 32.96°N, 80.13°WWeissenegg — 46.89°N, 15.51°EWeissenegg — 46.74°N, 15.56°EAlachua — 29.65°N, 82.60°WAlachua — 29.55°N, 82.52°WCaujarao — 11.47°N, 69.52°WChagres Sandstone — 9.16°N, 80.29°WChagres Sandstone — 9.28°N, 80.04°WMalembo — 5.34°S, 12.18°ESeria — 4.81°N, 114.67°E

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The named rock units Hemipristis serra has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 72 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 44 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Hemipristis serra and its relatives

Miocene

Where Hemipristis serra and its relatives were recorded in the Miocene.

Found in the same rock

2,634 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 207 sites for Hemipristis serra, 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

120 references

Each of the 222 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. 108 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 Hemipristis serra

Credit
Smithsonian
Licence
CC0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

No 3D scan of Hemipristis serra 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 itHemipristis through timeFormations of the MioceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Agassiz 1835