''Alopias grandis'' is a species of giant

thresher shark Thresher sharks are large lamniform sharks of the family Alopiidae found in all temperate and tropical oceans of the world; the family contains three extant species, all within the genus ''Alopias''. All three thresher shark species have been ...

from the

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and means "less recen ...

. Estimates calculated from teeth comparisons suggest the living animal was comparable in size to the extant

great white shark The great white shark (''Carcharodon carcharias''), also known as the white shark, white pointer, or simply great white, is a species of large mackerel shark which can be found in the coastal surface waters of all the major oceans. It is nota ...

. Remains generally consist of teeth, which have been found in the United States in the

Calvert Formation The Calvert Formation is a geologic formation in Maryland, Virginia, and Delaware. It preserves fossils dating back to the early to middle Miocene epoch of the Neogene period. The formation is a destination for amateur fossil hunters as well as pr ...

of Virginia and Maryland, and in

Beaufort County, South Carolina Beaufort County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of South Carolina. As of the 2020 census, its population was 187,117. Its county seat is Beaufort. Beaufort County is part of the Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Beaufort, SC Metropolitan Statist ...

. They have also been found in the Miocene of Malta.Godfrey, S. J. (Ed.). (2018). ''The Geology and Vertebrate Paleontology of Calvert Cliffs, Maryland, USA''. Smithsonian Institution Scholarly Press. It is unlikely it possessed the elongated tail lobe of modern thresher sharks. Some specimens in the

Burdigalian The Burdigalian is, in the geologic timescale, an age (geology), age or stage (stratigraphy), stage in the early Miocene. It spans the time between 20.43 ± 0.05 annum, Ma and 15.97 ± 0.05 Ma (million years ago). Preceded by the Aquitanian (sta ...

show the beginnings of serrations, which are presumably transitional individuals between ''A. grandis'' and ''A.'' ''palatasi.''

References

Alopiidae Neogene sharks {{paleo-shark-stub