Megachasma applegatei
Extinct species of shark
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Megachasma applegatei is an extinct species of megamouth shark from the Oligocene to early Miocene (28-23 Mya) of the Western United States.[1][2] The type fossil was discovered in the San Joaquin Valley in 1973, but only described in 2014, when the species was named after its discoverer, Shelton Applegate.[3]
| Megachasma applegatei Temporal range: | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Chondrichthyes |
| Subclass: | Elasmobranchii |
| Division: | Selachii |
| Order: | Lamniformes |
| Family: | Megachasmidae |
| Genus: | Megachasma |
| Species: | †M. applegatei |
| Binomial name | |
| †Megachasma applegatei Shimada, Welton and Long, 2014 | |
Description
Megachasma applegatei is only known from isolated teeth. Based on comparison with the teeth of the recent species (Megachasma pelagios), it was approximately 6 m long and, like modern megamouth sharks, probably fed on fish and small planktonic invertebrates both in deep and shallow water habitats. Its teeth had shorter crowns and a pair of side cusplets.[4] The teeth were also more variable in shape than the modern megamouth's, and may have been arranged in the distinctive heterodont "lamnoid tooth pattern" seen in predatory lamniform sharks.[5]
