Lamniformes

 ( Extant Early Cretaceous First Appearances ) 

The Lamniformes (, from Greek lamna "fish of prey") are an order of commonly known as mackerel sharks (which may also refer specifically to the family Lamnidae). It includes some of the most familiar species of sharks, such as the great white as well as less familiar ones, such as the goblin shark and megamouth shark.

Members of the order are distinguished by possessing two , an anal fin, five gill, eyes without nictitating membranes, and a mouth extending behind the eyes. Species in two families of Lamniformes – Lamnidae and Alopiidae – are distinguished for maintaining a higher body temperature than the surrounding waters.

Members of the group include Macro-predator, generally of medium-large size, including the largest macropredatory shark ever, the extinct Otodus megalodon, as well as large .

Although some authors have argued that the Late Jurassic Palaeocarcharias should be considered the oldest known lamniform, this is disputed. The earliest unambiguous records of lamniformes are from the Early Cretaceous. Lamniformes underwent a major adaptive radiation during the Cretaceous and became prominent elements of oceanic ecosystems. They reached their highest diversity during the Late Cretaceous, but severely declined during the K-Pg Extinction, before rebounding to a high but lower diversity peak during the Paleogene. Lamniformes have severely declined over the last 20 million years, with only 15 species alive today, compared to over 290 extant species in the Carcharhiniformes, which have evolved into medium and large body sizes during the same timeframe. The causes of the decline are uncertain, but are likely to have involved both biotic factors like competition and non-biotic factors like temperature and sea level.

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Species The order Lamniformes includes 10 families with 22 species, with a total of eight living families and 15 living species:

(2025). 9781118342336, John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 9781118342336

Order Lamniformes

• Family Thresher shark Bonaparte, 1838 (thresher sharks)
• Genus Thresher shark Rafinesque, 1810
• Pelagic thresher Nakamura, 1935 (pelagic thresher) [1]
• Bigeye thresher R. T. Lowe, 1841 (bigeye thresher) [2]
• Common thresher (Bonnaterre, 1788) (common thresher) [3]
• Family †Anacoracidae Henri Cappetta, 1987 (extinct, Cretaceous period)
• Genus † Squalicorax (crow sharks)

• Genus † Scindocorax
• Genus † Nanocorax
• Genus † Ptychocorax
• Family †Aquilolamnidae Vullo et al., 2021? (eagle sharks) (extinct, Late Cretaceous period)
• Genus † Aquilolamna Vullo et al., 2021
• † Aquilolamna milarcae Vullo et al., 2021
• Family Carchariidae Müller & Henle, 1838
• Genus Carcharias Rafinesque, 1810
• Carcharias taurus Rafinesque, 1810 (sand tiger shark) [4]
• Family Basking shark Theodore Gill, 1862
• Genus Basking shark Blainville, 1816
• Basking shark (Gunnerus, 1765) (basking shark) [5]
• † Cetorhinus huddlestoni (Welton, 2014)
• † Cetorhinus piersoni (Welton, 2015)
• Genus † Keasius (Welton, 2013)
• Family †Eoptolamnidae (extinct, Late Cretaceous period)
• Genus † Eoptolamna
• † Eoptolamna
• Genus † Leptostyrax
• † Leptostyrax
• Genus † Protolamna
• † Protolamna
• † Protolamna
• † Protolamna
• † Protolamna
• † Protolamna
• † Protolamna
• Family Lamnidae J. P. Müller and Henle, 1838 (mackerel sharks or white sharks)
• Genus Carcharodon A. Smith, 1838
• Carcharodon carcharias (Carl Linnaeus, 1758) (great white shark) [6]
• † Carcharodon hubbelli Ehret, Macfadden, Jones, Devries, Foster & Salas-Gismondi, 2012 (Hubbell's white shark)
• † Carcharodon caifassii Lawley, 1876
• † Carcharodon Linnaeus, 1758
• Genus Isurus Rafinesque, 1810
• Isurus oxyrinchus Rafinesque, 1810 (shortfin mako) [7]
• Isurus paucus Guitart-Manday, 1966 (longfin mako) [8]
• Genus Lamna Georges Cuvier, 1816
• Salmon shark Hubbs & Follett, 1947 (salmon shark) [9]
• Porbeagle (Bonnaterre, 1788) (porbeagle) [10]
• Family †Otodontidae Gluckman, 1964 (extinct, Late Cretaceous to Pliocene) (megatoothed sharks)
• Genus † Cretalamna Gluckman, 1958
• Genus † Otodus (Agassiz, 1843)
• † Otodus obliquus (Agassiz, 1838)
• † Otodus angustidens (Agassiz, 1843)
• † Otodus chubutensis (Agassiz, 1843)
• † Otodus megalodon (Agassiz, 1843) (megalodon)
• † Otodus auriculatus (Jordan, 1923)
• † Otodus sokolovi (Zhelezko and Kozlov, 1999)
• † Otodus poseidoni (Zhelezko and Kozlov, 1999)
• † Otodus minor (Giebel, 1943)
• † Otodus hastalis (Lawley, 876)
• † Otodus (Davis, 1890)
• † Otodus debrayi (Leriche, 1906)
• † Otodus (Zhelezko in Zhelezko & Kozlov)
• Genus † Megaselachus
• † Megaselachus? (Glickman, 1964)
• Genus † Megalolamna Shimada et al., 2016
• Genus † Palaeocarcharodon Casieer, 1960
• Genus † Kenolamna Siversson, 2017
• Family Megamouth shark Taylor, Compagno & Struhsaker, 1983
• Genus Megamouth shark Taylor, Compagno & Struhsaker, 1983
• Megamouth shark Taylor, Compagno & Struhsaker, 1983 (megamouth shark) [11]
• Family Mitsukurinidae D. S. Jordan, 1898
• Genus Mitsukurina D. S. Jordan, 1898
• Goblin shark D. S. Jordan, 1898 (goblin shark) [12]
• Family Sand shark Müller & Henle, 1839
• Genus Odontaspis Louis Agassiz, 1838
• Odontaspis ferox (Antoine Risso, 1810) (smalltooth sand tiger) [13]
• Odontaspis noronhai (Maul, 1955) (bigeye sand tiger) [14]
• Family Crocodile shark Compagno, 1973
• Genus Crocodile shark Jean Cadenat, 1963
• Crocodile shark (Matsubara, 1936) (crocodile shark) [15]
• Family †Cardabiodontidae (extinct, Late Cretaceous period)
• Genus †Cardabiodon Siverson, 1999
• † Cardabiodon Siverson, 1999
• † Cardabiodon Siverson and Lindgren, 2005
• Genus †Dwardius Siverson, 1999
• Genus †Parotodus? Cappetta, 1980
• Family †Cretoxyrhinidae (extinct, Late Cretaceous period)
• Genus † Cretoxyrhina Louis Agassiz, 1843
• † Cretoxyrhina Zhelezko, 2000
• † Cretoxyrhina Glückman, 1957
• † Cretoxyrhina Underwood and Cumbaa, 2010
• † Cretoxyrhina Agassiz, 1843 (ginsu shark)
• Family †Serratolamna
• Genus † Serratolamna
• Family †Ptychodontidae (extinct, Cretaceous period)
• Genus † Ptychodus (16+ species)

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Phylogeny Below is a cladogram showing relationships within Lamniformes. The topology of extant families is based on Vella & Vella (2020) and the placements of Cretoxyrhinidae and Otodontidae are based on Ferrón (2017), Cooper (2020), and Greenfield (2022).

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Sustainable consumption In 2010, Greenpeace International added the shortfin mako shark ( Isurus oxyrinchus) to its seafood red list. Greenpeace International Seafood Red list

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Further reading

• Compagno, Leonard (2002) Sharks of the World: Bullhead, mackerel and carpet sharks Volume 2, FAO Species Catalogue, Rome. .
• Joseph S. Nelson (2025). 9780471250319, John Wiley and Sons. ISBN 9780471250319

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External links

• elasmo-research

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