Carcharodon fossil map
Where fossils of Carcharodon have been found, shown on the Earth as it looked about 5 million years ago and on today’s map.
Dots are fossil collections recorded in the Paleobiology Database. The “then” view moves today’s fossil sites back to their positions 5 million years ago (the time slice nearest the median age of the fossils) using the Merdith et al. (2021) plate model; positions are approximate. Open on the timeline map →
| Group | Ancient fish & sharks |
|---|---|
| Lived | 85.7 million years ago to the present (Santonian to Holocene) |
| Periods | Cretaceous, Paleogene, Neogene, Quaternary |
| Family | Lamnidae |
| Named by | Smith 1838 |
| Fossil records | 459 occurrences at 358 locations (PBDB) |
| Found in | United States, Japan, Australia, Peru, Italy, Chile, France, Mexico, Spain, Portugal … |
| Rock formations | txn:80587, Pisco, Calvert, Bahía Inglesa, Senhata, San Mateo |
About Carcharodon
Carcharodon (from Ancient Greek κάρχαρος (kárkharos), meaning "sharp, jagged", and ὀδούς (odoús), meaning "tooth", and thus, "sharp tooth/jagged tooth") is a genus of sharks within the family Lamnidae, colloquially called the "white sharks". The only extant member is the great white shark (Carcharodon carcharias). Extinct species include C. hubbelli and C. hastalis. The first appearance of the genus in the fossil record may have been as early as the Late Oligocene, but certainly by the Early Miocene.
Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Carcharodon (revision 1380689145), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0; introduction excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Ages, family, authority and fossil records: Paleobiology Database, accessed 23 October 2026. Ages are those of the rock layers the fossils were found in. Wikidata: Q2938003.
