Washington, March 13: A new study of a preserved 4- to 5-million-year-old shark fossil has shed new light on the great white’s origins, and has helped scientists decide which line of species did it evolve from.
For the last 150 years, some paleontologists have concluded the great white shark, Carcharodon carcharias, is a smaller relative of the line that produced Carcharodon megalodon, the largest carnivorous fish known.
Other paleontologists disagree, arguing that the great white shark evolved instead from the broad-toothed mako shark.
The second group contends megalodon, which grew to a length of 60 feet, should have its genus name switched to Carcharocles to reflect its different ancestry.