A new shark species has been identified through its large fossilized teeth found in different locations around the world. That's how it finally got its name: Megalolamna paradoxodon.
The old megatooth, which lived some 20 million years ago, had almost 2-inch-long choppers and was a world traveler because researchers found its dental evidence in California and North Carolina, as well as Peru and Japan, said DePaul University.
DePaul researchers said even though the Megalolamna paradoxodon was smaller than other extinct sharks in its lineage, the megatooth was still quite large by today's shark standards, measuring more than 33 feet. Modern-day great white sharks grow to roughly 13 feet in length.
"It's quite remarkable that such a large lamniform shark with such a global distribution had evaded recognition until now, especially because there are numerous Miocene localities where fossil shark teeth are well sampled," said Kenshu Shimada, a paleobiologist at DePaul and research associate at the Sternberg Museum in Kansas.
The Christian Science Monitor said researchers hadn't recognized the Megalolamna as a distinct species, first believing it was similar to megalodon or a member of the Lamna shark genus, the ancestors of modern salmon sharks and porbeagles.
The scientists took a second look at the dental evidence and it showed the shark was different from a Lamna shark relative because the teeth were too "robust."
The research team concluded that megatoothed lineage sharks, including the megalodon, should be classified into the genus Otadus, and not to its traditional genus Carcharocles, said DePaul.
"The idea that megalodon and its close allies should be placed in Otodus is not new, but our study is the first of its kind that logically demonstrates the taxonomic proposition," said Shimada.
Shimada and his team's work identifying the Megalolamna paradoxodon appears in the Monday issue of the scientific journal Historical Biology.
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