Giant-toothed white sharks and cetacean trophic interaction from the Pliocene Caribbean Paraguaná Formation

The role of the extinct giant-toothed white shark Carcharodon megalodon ( Agassiz ) in the Caribbean Neogene is discussed based on new evidence of predation on cetaceans from the Lower Pliocene Paraguaná Formation in Venezuela. Large sharks have occupied the highest trophic level in the marine envir...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Paläontologische Zeitschrift 2008-01, Vol.82 (2), p.204-208
Main Authors: Aguilera, Orangel A., García, Luís, Cozzuol, Mario A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Earth and Environmental Science
Earth Sciences
Paleontology
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Summary:The role of the extinct giant-toothed white shark Carcharodon megalodon ( Agassiz ) in the Caribbean Neogene is discussed based on new evidence of predation on cetaceans from the Lower Pliocene Paraguaná Formation in Venezuela. Large sharks have occupied the highest trophic level in the marine environment. However, based on the recovery of a giant white shark tooth piercing a cetacean lumbar vertebra, the predator-prey relationship is discussed under the hypothesis of initial shark attack, subsequent floating transport of the cetacean carcass, and scavenging prior to deposition on the bottom. The scarce Caribbean fossil records of both giant-toothed sharks and cetaceans suggest that these species were transients during the Pliocene on the Venezuelan coast.
ISSN:0031-0220
1867-6812
DOI:10.1007/BF02988410