Palaeocarcharias

{{Short description|Extinct genus of sharks}} {{Speciesbox | fossil_range = Middle-Late Jurassic {{fossilrange|Bathonian|Tithonian}} | image = Palaeocarcharias stromeri.JPG | image2 = Palaeocarcharias stromeri 7243.jpg | image2_caption = Specimens of ''P. stromeri'' from the Upper Jurassic of Germany | display_parents = 2 | genus = Palaeocarcharias | parent_authority = Beaumont, 1960 | authority = Beaumont, 1960 | species = stromeri }}

'''''Palaeocarcharias''''' is an extinct genus of shark, known from the Jurassic of Europe. It has only a single named species, '''''Palaeocarcharias stromeri''''', which is known from exceptionally preserved specimens from the Late Jurassic (Tithonian) of Germany (Solnhofen Limestone) and France (Canjuers Lagerstatte) <ref>{{Cite journal |last=Guinot |first=Guillaume |last2=Vullo |first2=Romain |last3=Peyer |first3=Karin |last4=Reneleau |first4=Vincent |date=2025-01-01 |title=An articulated skeleton of the neoselachian shark Palaeocarcharias from the Late Jurassic Canjuers Lagerstätte (southeastern France) |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0753396924000776 |journal=Annales de Paléontologie |volume=111 |issue=1 |article-number=102738 |doi=10.1016/j.annpal.2024.102738 |issn=0753-3969}}</ref>. Isolated teeth of indeterminate species from England (White Limestone Formation, and possibly the Forest Marble and Taynton Limestone) extend the range of the genus back to the Middle Jurassic (Bathonian).<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last1=Villalobos-Segura |first1=Eduardo |last2=Stumpf |first2=Sebastian |last3=Türtscher |first3=Julia |last4=Jambura |first4=Patrick |last5=Begat |first5=Arnaud |last6=López-Romero |first6=Faviel |last7=Fischer |first7=Jan |last8=Kriwet |first8=Jürgen |date=2023-03-08 |title=A Synoptic Review of the Cartilaginous Fishes (Chondrichthyes: Holocephali, Elasmobranchii) from the Upper Jurassic Konservat-Lagerstätten of Southern Germany: Taxonomy, Diversity, and Faunal Relationships |journal=Diversity |language=en |volume=15 |issue=3 |page=386 |doi=10.3390/d15030386 |issn=1424-2818 |pmc=7614348 |pmid=36950327 |bibcode=2023Diver..15..386V |doi-access=free }}</ref> Morphologically, it closely resembles carpet sharks (Orectolobiformes),<ref name=":0" /> and is around {{Convert|1|m|ft}} in total body length.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Shimada |first1=Kenshu |last2=Becker |first2=Martin A. |last3=Griffiths |first3=Michael L. |date=2021-11-02 |title=Body, jaw, and dentition lengths of macrophagous lamniform sharks, and body size evolution in Lamniformes with special reference to 'off-the-scale' gigantism of the megatooth shark, Otodus megalodon |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/08912963.2020.1812598 |journal=Historical Biology |language=en |volume=33 |issue=11 |pages=2543–2559 |doi=10.1080/08912963.2020.1812598 |bibcode=2021HBio...33.2543S |s2cid=224935604 |issn=0891-2963|url-access=subscription }}</ref> However, it shares greater similarities in tooth development with mackerel sharks (Lamniformes), including the absence of orthodentine, and has been suggested to the earliest known member of the Lamniformes or a member of a sister group to the Lamniformes.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last1=Landemaine |first1=Olivier |last2=Thies |first2=Detlev |last3=Waschkewitz |first3=Jens |date=2018-11-01 |title=The Late Jurassic shark Palaeocarcharias (Elasmobranchii, Selachimorpha) – functional morphology of teeth, dermal cephalic lobes and phylogenetic position |url=https://www.schweizerbart.de/papers/pala/detail/312/90700/The_Late_Jurassic_shark_Palaeocarcharias_Elasmobra?l=EN |journal=Palaeontographica Abteilung A |volume=312 |issue=5–6 |language=en |pages=103–165 |doi=10.1127/0375-0442/2018/0000/0085|bibcode=2018PalAA.312..103L |s2cid=146540287 |url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last1=Jambura |first1=Patrick L. |last2=Kindlimann |first2=René |last3=López-Romero |first3=Faviel |last4=Marramà |first4=Giuseppe |last5=Pfaff |first5=Cathrin |last6=Stumpf |first6=Sebastian |last7=Türtscher |first7=Julia |last8=Underwood |first8=Charlie J. |last9=Ward |first9=David J. |last10=Kriwet |first10=Jürgen |date=2019-07-04 |title=Micro-computed tomography imaging reveals the development of a unique tooth mineralization pattern in mackerel sharks (Chondrichthyes; Lamniformes) in deep time |journal=Scientific Reports |language=en |volume=9 |issue=1 |page=9652 |doi=10.1038/s41598-019-46081-3 |pmid=31273249 |pmc=6609643 |bibcode=2019NatSR...9.9652J |issn=2045-2322|doi-access=free }}</ref> A 2018 study suggested that should be classified as the sole member of the order '''Palaeocarchariiformes''',<ref name=":1" /> but a subsequent 2023 study questioned this and favoured placement in Lamniformes.<ref name=":2" /> A 2024 study of a specimen from Canjuers suggested that as that it was in fact a true carpet shark, perhaps a member of Orectolobidae (the wobbegongs).<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Guinot |first1=Guillaume |last2=Vullo |first2=Romain |last3=Peyer |first3=Karin |last4=Reneleau |first4=Vincent |date=January 2025 |title=An articulated skeleton of the neoselachian shark Palaeocarcharias from the Late Jurassic Canjuers Lagerstätte (southeastern France) |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0753396924000776 |journal=Annales de Paléontologie |language=en |volume=111 |issue=1 |article-number=102738 |doi=10.1016/j.annpal.2024.102738|bibcode=2025AnPal.11102738G |url-access=subscription }}</ref>

== References == {{Reflist}}

Category:Lamniformes Category:Prehistoric shark genera Category:Fossil taxa described in 1960