Shark Fossils

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	Figs.la-3. Carcharodon megalodon (Charlesworth).
		la) Inner face of an anterior tooth with slender, erect crown. Plum Point. 1b) Profile of the same specimen. 1c) Outer face of the same specimen. 2) Inner face of a small-sized, slightly worn specimen within thin, flat crown of the variety styled "C. productus Agassiz." Plum Point. 3) Inner face of a large-sized lateral tooth. Fairhaven.
	Figs. 4a, 4b. Vertebral centrum of Carcharodon sp.
		4a) Vertebral face. Plum Point. 4b) Haemal aspect of the same specimen.

Family LAMNIDAE Müller and Henle.
Genus CARCHARODON Agassiz.

Carcharodon megalodon (Charlesworth)

Carcharias megalodon Charlesworth, 1837 (ex Agassiz MS.), Mag. Nat. Hist. n. s.,
         vol. i, p. 225, woodc. fig. 24.
Carcharodon megalodon Agassiz, 1843, Poiss. Foss., vol. iii, p. 247, pl. xxix.
Carcharodon megalodon Gibbes, 1849, Jour. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., 2nd ser., vol. i,
          p. 143, pl. xviii, pl. xix, figs. 8, 9.
Carcharodon rectus Agassiz, 1856, Rept. Pac. R. R. Explor. and Surv., vol. v, p. 314,
          pl. i, figs. 29-31.
Carcharodon rectus Agassiz, 1856, Amer. Jour. Sci., ser. ii, vol. xxi, p. 274.
Carcharodon megalodon Emmons, 1858, Rept. N. Car. Geol. Survey, p. 227, fig. 50.
Carcharodon ferox Emmons, 1858, Rept. N. Car. Geol. Survey, p. 229, figs. 52-54.
Carcharodon triangularis Emmons, 1858, Rept. N. Car. Geol. Survey, p. 232, fig. 59.
Carcharodon megalodon Leidy, 1877, Jour. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., 2nd ser., vol. viii,
         p. 253.

     Description.— Teeth attaining a very large size, comparatively broad and robust, the outer coronal face flat or slightly convex, the apex sometimes gently curved outwards; distinct lateral denticles absent.
     The teeth of Carcharodon, which are such a conspicuous feature in the Eocene of South Carolina and other states, appear to diminish in abundance proceeding northward, and ascending in the geological series. They are extremely rare in the Maryland Eocene, and are not at all common in the Miocene. The lateral tooth from Fairhaven, shown in Plate XXXI, Fig. 3, is one of the largest found in this state, although it is exceeded in size by some of the same species from South Carolina, California and Peru. Those from Plum Point are mostly of small size, comparatively speaking, and have thinner and flatter crowns, as shown in Plate XXXI, Fig. 2. These agree with the teeth described by Agassiz as a distinct species under the name of C. productus, but now regarded as a variety of the present form. " Carcharodon angustidens " (= C. auriculatus Agassiz) is recorded from Charles County by Cope, but no examples exist in the collection.
     Occurrence.— Calvert formation. Charles County near the Patuxent
                 river, Plum Point, Fairhaven.
     Collections.— Maryland Geological Survey, Johns Hopkins University,
                Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences.

updated 3/2/05

(these web pages were prepared by R. D. Conkwright)