Alopiidae
Family of sharks
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Alopiidae is a family of large mackerel sharks (order Lamniformes).[1] The only extant genus is the thresher shark (Alopias). The extinct genera Anotodus, Paranomotodon, and Trigonotodus have been proposed as members of this family.
| Alopiidae | |
|---|---|
| |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Chondrichthyes |
| Subclass: | Elasmobranchii |
| Division: | Selachii |
| Order: | Lamniformes |
| Family: | Alopiidae Bonaparte, 1838 |
| Genera | |
| |
It is believed that thresher sharks originated from a common ancestor that appeared in the Late Cretaceous, at least 70 million years ago. The first thresher sharks of the genus Alopias appeared about 50 million years ago.[citation needed] Trigonotodus is known from the Oligocene.[2]