Lamniformes

Grey nurse shark Carcharias taurus, photographed by J. W. H. Ferguson.

Belongs within: Selachimorpha.

The Lamniformes, lamnoid sharks, are a group of sharks with the gill slits anterior to the origin of the pectoral fins (Collette & Klein-MacPhee 2002). Most are large and active sharks, often found in shallow waters (Bond 1996).

Lamniformes
    |--Odontaspididae B02a
    |    |--Odontaspis taurus CH97
    |    `--Carcharias [Carchariidae] MW07
    |         |--C. arenarius G75
    |         |--C. milberti D56
    |         |--C. obscurus LG91
    |         `--C. taurus (Rafinesque 1810) B02a
    `--+--Mitsukurinidae [Scapanorhynchidae] B96
       |    |--Scapanorhynchus owstoni W85
       |    `--Mitsukurina owstoni MW07, B96
       `--Alopias [Alopiidae] MW07
            |--A. caudatus G75
            |--A. greyi G75
            `--A. vulpinus (Bonnaterre 1788) B02d

Lamniformes incertae sedis:
  Pseudocarchariidae B96
  Cetorhinus B02c [Cetorhinidae B96]
    `--C. maximus (Gunnerus 1765) B02c
  Megachasma B96 [Megachasmidae HMM12]
    `--M. pelagios Taylor, Compagno & Struhsaker 1983 HMM12
  Lamnidae [Isuridae] B96
    |--Carcharodon B02b
    |    |--C. angustidens F71
    |    |--C. auriculatus A27
    |    |--C. carcharias (Linnaeus 1758) B02b
    |    `--C. megalodon F71
    |--Lamna B02b
    |    |--L. daviesii Etheridge 1888 F71
    |    |--L. ditropis B96
    |    |--L. nasus (Bonnaterre 1788) B02b
    |    `--L. texana C77
    `--Isurus B02b
         |--I. glaucus G75
         |--I. oxyrinchus Rafinesque 1810 B02b
         |--I. paucus B02b
         `--I. punctatus W85

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

[A27] Allan, R. S. 1927. The geology and palaeontology of the Lower Waihao Basin, south Canterbury, New Zealand. Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute 57: 265-309.

[B96] Bond, C. E. 1996. Biology of Fishes 2^nd ed. Saunders College Publishing: Fort Worth.

[B02a] Branstetter, S. 2002a. Sand tiger sharks. Family Odontaspididae. In Bigelow and Schroeder’s Fishes of the Gulf of Maine (B. B. Collette & G. Klein-MacPhee, eds) 3^rd ed. pp. 25-27. Smithsonian Institute Press: Washington.

[B02b] Branstetter, S. 2002b. Mackerel sharks. Family Lamnidae. In Bigelow and Schroeder’s Fishes of the Gulf of Maine (B. B. Collette & G. Klein-MacPhee, eds) 3^rd ed. pp. 27-32. Smithsonian Institute Press: Washington.

[B02c] Branstetter, S. 2002c. Basking shark. Family Cetorhinidae. In Bigelow and Schroeder’s Fishes of the Gulf of Maine (B. B. Collette & G. Klein-MacPhee, eds) 3^rd ed. pp. 32-34. Smithsonian Institute Press: Washington.

[B02d] Branstetter, S. 2002d. Thresher sharks. Family Alopiidae. In Bigelow and Schroeder’s Fishes of the Gulf of Maine (B. B. Collette & G. Klein-MacPhee, eds) 3^rd ed. pp. 34-36. Smithsonian Institute Press: Washington.

[CH97] Castro, P., & M. E. Huber. 1997. Marine Biology, 2^nd ed. WCB McGraw-Hill: Boston.

[C77] Cope, E. D. 1877. Report upon the extinct Vertebrata obtained in New Mexico by parties of the expedition of 1874. Geographical Surveys West of the One Hundredth Meridian 4 (2): i-iv, 1-370.

[D56] Dawes, B. 1956. The Trematoda with special reference to British and other European forms. University Press: Cambridge.

[F71] Fletcher, H. O. 1971. Catalogue of type specimens of fossils in the Australian Museum, Sydney. Australian Museum Memoir 13: 1-167.

[G75] Grant, E. M. 1975. Guide to Fishes. The Co-ordinator-General’s Department: Brisbane (Australia).

[HMM12] Human, B. A., S. M. Morrison & I. D. MacLeod. 2012. Is the megamouth shark susceptible to mega-distortion? Investigating the effects of twenty-two years of fixation and preservation on a large specimen of Megachasma pelagios (Chondrichthyes: Megachasmidae). Records of the Western Australian Museum 27 (1): 7-20.

[LG91] Li, W.-H., & D. Graur. 1991. Fundamentals of Molecular Evolution. Sinauer: Sunderland (MA).

[MW07] Mallatt, J., & C. J. Winchell. 2007. Ribosomal RNA genes and deuterostome phylogeny revisited: more cyclostomes, elasmobranchs, reptiles, and a brittle star. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 43: 1005-1022.

[W85] Williams, M. E. 1985. The “cladodont level” sharks of the Pennsylvanian Black Shales of central North America. Palaeontographica Abt. A 190: 83-158.