Carcharodon

Carcharodon Temporal range: Oligocene-Recent,
Great White Shark (Carcharodon carcharias).
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Division:	Selachii
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Chondricthyes
Subclass:	Elasmobranchii
Order:	Lamniformes
Family:	Lamnidae
Genus:	Carcharodon A. Smith, 1838
Type species
Carcharodon arnoldi Linnaeus, 1758
Species
C. carcharias Linnaeus, 1758 †C. carcharias-f Lawley, 1876 †C. hubbelli Ehret et al., 2012 †C. hastalis? Agassiz, 1843 †C. planus? Agassiz, 1835 †C. subserratus? Agassiz, 1843 †C. plicatilis (xiphodon)? Agassiz, 1843 Species with validity disputed †C. caifassii* Lawley, 1876 †C. megalodon Agassiz, 1835

Carcharodon (meaning "jagged/sharp tooh" in Ancient Greek) is a genus of sharks that inclued the famous Great White Shark, and inclued extinct species, from example the C. hubbelli and C. hastalis. Carcharocles megalodon was also originally classified as a species of shark of the genus Carcharodon, however more recent studies place it in the genus Otodus or Carcharocles and in the extinct family Otodontidae.

Classification

Fossil of C. hubbelli of 6 milions years ago.

Fossil of Carcharodon was found in much of the world, most continents to be exact, this genus emerged approximately 30 million years ago, with the first representative being C. hastalis or the "Broad-toothed Great White Shark". From that time onwards, other sharks also existed, such as the ancestors of megalodon and the Tiger shark (Galeocerdo cuvier). The C. hastalis lived in North America, Asia, South America and many others.

Paleontologists suggest that the genus Cosmopolitodus (a genus of extinct mako sharks) is actually invalid and synonymous with Carcharodon. Scientists believe that there were more species in this genus including C. subserratus, but most paleontologists today classify it as a species of Mako shark and the genus Isurus. This is because many paleontologists no longer consider C. escheri of the genus Carcharomodus a valid genus, and it is considered a probable synonym of Isurus.

Carcharodon caifassii is a other species of the genus, but is considered dubious species that lived in the Pliocene period, the validity of species is disputed.