Carcharodon hubbelli

Only one associated dentition of C. hubbelli is known (UF 226255), with a total of 222 teeth (and 45 vertebral centra). It was recovered from the Pisco Formation of Southern Peru. The tooth morphology is most similar to the extant great white, in having labiolingually flattened triangular cusps with serrated edges. The dentition differs from the extant species in having a distally-inclined upper intermediate tooth (it is mesially-inclined in the great white). The serrations are also qualitatively different, being finer and diminish in size apically (towards the tip). As a transitional species, C. hubbelli possesses a mixture of features present in extinct white sharks like C. hastalis and in the extant white shark, C. carcharias. The distal inclination of the intermediate tooth is characteristic of C. hastalis, but the presence of serrations (though not fully developed) and a second upper anterior tooth larger than the lower second anterior tooth are characteristic of C. carcharias. == Ecology ==

The development of serrated edges on the teeth of C. hubbelli suggest a shift in its diet to rely more on marine mammals as in C. carcharias. The bone of a scavenged mysticete whale with a tooth of C. hubbelli embedded within it supports this hypothesis. == References ==