Carcharodon hastalis Morocco

This catalog contains excellent teeth from the extinct Big-tooth Mako shark, Carcharodon (Isurus) hastalis. These teeth are noted for their wide triangular crowns which are non-serrate. The colors found in this site are quite nice. These teeth are middle Miocene (~14 million years ago) from a coastal location which is no longer accessible. A very rare find in Morocco!

Note – Moroccan Miocene Mako and Megalodon teeth have only been available for several years and now the site collapsed and is closed. These Miocene teeth were found in a cliff deposit along the Mediterranean Sea, near Dakhla, Western Sahara, Morocco. Teeth were dug out of the cliff or eroded out of the cliff. Many of these teeth were broken during removal.

What’s in a name? For the fifty years, Isurus hastalis was known to me and others as the big Mako shark tooth that collectors sought from Miocene – Pliocene deposits. Everyone wanted to find a big Mako tooth. In 2001, Purdy (Smithsonsian) resurrected Isurus xiphodon for the broad-form Mako teeth at Lee Creek. It made sense, but now it is not considered a valid species. In 1964, Glikman proposed the Cosmopolitodus genus for the "hastalis" shark as Isurus hastalis was related to the Great White shark rather than the Mako. This convention was not adopted in the scientific community until the last decade; particularly with the naming of the Carcharodon hubbelli, the Great White transition tooth (late Miocene). There is also a push to rename the shark formerly known as Isurus hastalis to Carcharodon hastalis recognizing that it is an early form of the Great White shark. Ok, Isurus hastalis and Isurus xiphodon names going away, but the future name for "hastlis" appears to be unsettled. What do we call this shark if it is not a Mako? More to come in my Blog article.