Alopiidae
| Alopiidae | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Chondrichthyes |
| Subclass: | Elasmobranchii |
| Division: | Selachii |
| Order: | Lamniformes |
| Family: | Alopiidae Bonaparte, 1838 |
| Genera | |
| |
Alopiidae is a family of large mackerel sharks (order Lamniformes).[1] The only extant genus is the thresher shark (Alopias). The extinct genera Anotodus, Paranomotodon, and Trigonotodus have been proposed as members of this family.
It is believed that thresher sharks originated from a common ancestor that appeared in the Late Cretaceous, at least 70 million years ago. The first thresher sharks of the genus Alopias appeared about 50 million years ago. Trigonotodus is known from the Oligocene.[2]
References
- ^ Carrillo-Briceño, Jorge D.; Villafaña, Jaime A.; Gracia, Carlos De; Flores-Alcívar, F. Fernando; Kindlimann, René; Abella, Juan (April 29, 2020). "Diversity and paleoenvironmental implications of an elasmobranch assemblage from the Oligocene–Miocene boundary of Ecuador". PeerJ. 8 e9051. doi:10.7717/peerj.9051. ISSN 2167-8359. PMC 7195833.
- ^ Jim Bourdon (2006). "Thresher sharks — Lower Eocene - Recent". elasmo.com.