Squalodon

Squalodon is an extinct genus of whales of the Oligocene and Miocene epochs, belonging to the family Squalodontidae. Named by Jean-Pierre Sylvestre de Grateloup in 1840, it was originally believed to be an iguanodontid dinosaur but has since been reclassified. The name Squalodon comes from Squalus, a genus of shark. As a result, its name means "shark tooth". It was once thought to be related to the 2 species of the genus Platanista. However, it is a primitive odontocete with heterodont dentition and no modern descendants.

Squalodon

Ghedoghedo · CC BY-SA 3.0 · 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
Sits inside
SqualodontidaePBDB
Diet
carnivorePBDB, for Odontoceti
Life habit
aquatic, depth=surfacePBDB, for Cetacea
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Cetacea
Environment
marine,freshwaterPBDB, for Odontoceti

Time the record covers

At least 11 million years on record.

The record covers at least 23.04 Mya to 11.63 Mya. No occurrence read is dated outside 27.3 Mya to 3.6 Mya.

Oligocene — about 7 of 76 occurrencesOligoceneMiocene — about 69 of 76 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 0 of 76 occurrencesPliocene28–27 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences27–26 Mya — about 1 occurrence26–25 Mya — about 1 occurrence25–25 Mya — about 1 occurrence25–24 Mya — about 1 occurrence24–23 Mya — about 2 occurrences23–22 Mya — about 3 occurrences22–21 Mya — about 3 occurrences21–20 Mya — about 3 occurrences20–20 Mya — about 6 occurrences20–19 Mya — about 6 occurrences19–18 Mya — about 6 occurrences18–17 Mya — about 6 occurrences17–16 Mya — about 6 occurrences16–15 Mya — about 5 occurrences15–15 Mya — about 4 occurrences15–14 Mya — about 4 occurrences14–13 Mya — about 5 occurrences13–12 Mya — about 4 occurrences12–11 Mya — about 3 occurrences11–11 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences11–9.7 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences9.7–8.9 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences8.9–8.0 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences8.0–7.2 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences7.2–6.4 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences6.4–5.6 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences5.6–4.7 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences4.7–3.9 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences3.9–3.1 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences23.04 Mya11.63 Mya27.8 Mya3.1 Mya

76 occurrences of Squalodon 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

76 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

Calvert — 39.20°N, 75.60°WCalvert — 38.67°N, 76.53°WCalvert — 38.29°N, 77.03°WCalvert — 38.29°N, 77.15°WCalvert — 38.02°N, 77.06°WCalvert — 38.46°N, 77.01°WCalvert — 37.77°N, 77.37°WCalvert — 38.18°N, 76.97°WCalvert — 38.60°N, 76.51°WCalvert — 37.54°N, 77.45°WCalvert — 38.16°N, 76.83°WCalvert — 38.42°N, 76.90°WCalvert — 38.53°N, 76.52°WCalvert — 38.38°N, 76.99°WBerchem — 51.21°N, 4.43°EBerchem — 51.17°N, 4.46°EBerchem — 51.29°N, 4.27°ELibano Sandstone — 46.14°N, 12.22°EPietra Leccese — 40.16°N, 18.29°EPietra Leccese — 40.35°N, 18.17°EChandler Bridge — 33.03°N, 80.27°WChandler Bridge — 32.96°N, 80.15°WChandler Bridge — 32.81°N, 80.11°WBolognano — 42.24°N, 14.04°EBolognano — 42.22°N, 14.17°EPungo River — 35.40°N, 76.80°WSables des Landes — 43.94°N, 0.75°WSables des Landes — 43.17°N, 0.59°WTorreya — 30.50°N, 84.50°WLanghiano — 36.92°N, 14.60°ETsotilion — 40.27°N, 21.32°EFilakovo — 48.31°N, 19.70°ESalsomaggiore — 44.73°N, 10.03°EKirkwood — 40.17°N, 74.15°WWaita — 33.93°N, 130.72°ESakamizu — 33.89°N, 130.73°ECoquimbo — 29.98°S, 71.39°WMushizaki — 37.09°N, 137.04°EMelker Sand — 48.29°N, 15.59°ESaint Médard-en-Jalle Molasse — 45.40°N, 0.35°WRio Banano — 10.06°N, 83.59°WLibano — 46.14°N, 12.22°E

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The named rock units Squalodon has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 24 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Squalodon and its relatives

Miocene

Where Squalodon and its relatives were recorded in the Miocene.

Found in the same rock

914 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 66 sites for Squalodon, 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

58 references

Each of the 76 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. 46 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 Squalodon

Credit
Ghedoghedo
Licence
CC BY-SA 3.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

CT scan

Licence
In Copyright
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record
Specimen
Squalodon calvertensis · usnm:paleobiology:10484

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 itSqualodontidae through timeFormations of the MioceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Grateloup 1840