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The authorship of the name of the megatooth shark Carcharocles (Lamniformes, Otodontidae)
Abstract
The megatooth sharks, family Otodontidae, have a complicated taxonomic history. The latest debate concerns the genera Otodus Agassiz, 1838 and Carcharocles Jordan & Hannibal in Jordan, 1923. It is argued either to use Otodus for the whole obliquus-megalodon anagenetic lineage (Shimada et al. 2017) or to split it into Otodus and Carcharocles based on the absence or presence of tooth serrations, respectively (Perez et al. 2018). Although referring to an important taxon, the authorship of the nomen Carcharocles has been consistently cited from the wrong publication. Recent authors (e.g., Cappetta 2012; Pimiento et al. 2013; Ehret & Ebersole 2014; Carrillo-Briceño et al. 2015; Boessenecker 2016; Perez et al. 2018) have attributed it to Jordan & Hannibal (1923). However, the paper by Jordan & Hannibal (1923) was published after the book by Jordan (1923), which contains the actual naming of Carcharocles.
In the second issue of Samuel Morton's "Synopsis of the organic remains of the Cretaceous group of the united States" published in June 1835, several otodontid shark teeth from Cenozoic formations of New Jersey are named with authorship of Louis Agassiz and meet the conditions of availability of the international Code of Zoological nomenclature. it has gone largely unnoticed that some of these names were introduced in this work before their publication in Agassiz's masterpiece "Recherches sur les poissons fossiles". The specimens presented by Morton were kept in the John Price Wetherill (1794-1853) collection that found its way into the paleontological collection of the Academy of natural Sciences of Drexel University, Philadelphia, where most of them have been rediscovered. These teeth are part of the type series upon which Agassiz introduced Lamna obliqua Agassiz in Morton, 1835, Lamna lanceolata Agassiz in Morton, 1835, Carcharias lanceolatus Agassiz in Morton, 1835, Carcharias megalotis Agassiz, 1835 and Carcharias polygurus Agassiz in Morton, 1835, all of these species being referred to the genus Otodus in the present work. in order to secure the nomenclatural stability of the Otodontidae, it is established that Otodus lanceolatus is a junior synonym of Otodus obliquus, that "Carcharias" lanceolatus belongs to the genus Otodus Agassiz, 1838 and is invalid as a junior secondary homonym of Otodus lanceolatus, that Otodus megalotis is a junior synonym of Otodus auriculatus (Blainville, 1818), and that Otodus polygurus (Otodus polygyrus being an incorrect subsequent spelling) is a junior synonym of Otodus megalodon (Agassiz, 1835). Furthermore, it is shown that the date of publication of Otodus obliquus (Agassiz in Morton, 1835) is 1835 and not 1838 as previously thought.
The first issue of the journal Bionomina was published by Magnolia Press (Auckland, New Zealand) on 24 December 2010. The journal originated from an evolution and expansion of the section ‘Theory and methodology’ introduced in 2006 in the journal Zootaxa, itself founded in 2001 (Zhang 2007). The purpose of this new journal was wider than that of this section, being presented as “to open a space of free discussion among colleagues involved in or interested in all aspects of the terminology of comparative and evolutionary biology, including, but not limited to, taxonomy and nomenclature of taxa” (Dubois 2010: 8).
Megatoothed sharks (Family: Otodontidae) are among the most widely reported sharks in
Cenozoic marine sediments worldwide, and certain species such as the famed Carcharocles
megalodon are particularly abundant in Neogene deposits on the Atlantic margin of the United
States. Cenozoic marine strata on the Pacific margin of North America have yielded one of the
most densely sampled marine vertebrate records anywhere, but published occurrences of shark
assemblages are uncommon. Rarer yet are published occurrences of C. megalodon from this
region with unambiguous provenance and robust age control — critical data required for the study
of recent marine vertebrate faunal evolution in the eastern North Pacific. A tooth of C. megalodon
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from near Santa Cruz, California, represents the first record of this species from the Purisima
Formation and the geochronologically youngest occurrence (6.9–5.6 Ma, uppermost Miocene; late
Messinian) of this species from northern California.
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Agassiz, J. L. R. (1835-1843) Recherches sur les poissons fossiles. Atlas. Tome 3. Neuchâtel (H. Nicolet): pl. 1-83.
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Handbook of palaeoichthyology
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Cappetta, H. (2012) Handbook of palaeoichthyology. Chondrichthyes. Mesozoic and Cenozoic Elasmobranchii: teeth.
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Sawfishes and other elasmobranch assemblages from the Mio-Pliocene of the south Caribbean (Urumaco sequence, northwestern Venezuela)
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Carrillo-Briceño, J. D., Maxwell, E., Aguilera, O. A., Sánchez, R. & Sánchez-Villagra, M. R. (2015) Sawfishes and
other elasmobranch assemblages from the Mio-Pliocene of the south Caribbean (Urumaco sequence, northwestern
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Occurrence of the megatoothed sharks (Lamniformes: Otodontidae) in Alabama, USA. PeerJ, 2: e625
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Ehret, D. J. & Ebersole, J. (2014) Occurrence of the megatoothed sharks (Lamniformes: Otodontidae) in Alabama, USA.
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A classification of fishes including families and genera so far as known
- C L Hubbs
Hubbs, C. L. (1923) A classification of fishes including families and genera so far as known. By David Starr Jordan,
Chancellor Emeritus of Stanford University. Stanford Univ. Publ. (Biol. Sci.), Vol. 3, No. 2, 1923, pp. 79-243, i-x.
Science, 58 (1497): 181-182. <https://doi.org/10.1126/science.58.1497.181-a>.
A classification of fishes, including families and genera as far known
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Jordan, D. S. (1923) A classification of fishes, including families and genera as far known. Stanford University
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The genera of fishes and a classification of fishes
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The transition between Carcharocles chubutensis and Carcharocles megalodon (Otodontidae, Chondrichthyes): lateral cusplet loss through time
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Perez, V. J., Godfrey, S. J., Kent, B. W., Weems, R. E. & Nance, J. R. (2018) The transition between Carcharocles
chubutensis and Carcharocles megalodon (Otodontidae, Chondrichthyes): lateral cusplet loss through time. Journal
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Early Miocene chondrichthyans from the Culebra Formation, Panama: a window into marine vertebrate faunas before closure of the Central American Seaway
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Pimiento, C., González-Barba, G., Hendy, A. J. W., Jaramillo, C., MacFadden, B. J., Montes, C., Suarez, S. C. & Shippritt,
M. (2013) Early Miocene chondrichthyans from the Culebra Formation, Panama: a window into marine vertebrate
faunas before closure of the Central American Seaway. Journal of South American Earth Sciences, 42: 159-170.
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A new elusive otodontid shark (Lamniformes: Otodontidae) from the lower Miocene, and comments on the taxonomy of otodontid genera, including the 'megatoothed' clade
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Shimada, K., Chandler, R. E., Lam, O. L. T., Tanaka, T. & Ward, D. J. (2017) A new elusive otodontid shark (Lamniformes:
Otodontidae) from the lower Miocene, and comments on the taxonomy of otodontid genera, including the 'megatoothed'
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Submitted: 29 August 2020. Accepted: 12 September 2020. Published: 31 December 2020.
Corresponding editor: Alain Dubois.