Skip to Main Content

Cretoxyrhinidae

Cretoxyrhinidae

Overview

Cretoxyrhinidae Glückman, 1958

Common Name: 'Cretaceous sharp nose'

Extant/Extinct

Key morphological features: The Cretoxyrhinidae include some of the largest sharks of the Late Cretaceous. Their teeth resemble a modern mackerel shark. With teeth and a bite force capable of shearing bone, these predators opportunistically fed on both live prey and decaying carcases of larger animals. Dinosaur and mosasaur remains often have evidence of shark predation from the Western Interior Seaway.

        SIZE: Up to +6 meters (20ft)

Paleoecology:

        MOBILITY: Mobile (swim)

        FEEDING MODE: Predator

        HABITAT: epifaunal

Sources:

Everhart, M. J., 2005. Oceans of Kansas: A Natural History of the Western Interior Sea. Indiana University Press, Bloomington. 322 pp.


Genera of Cretoxyrhinidae present in the Cretaceous of the Western Interior Seaway