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Alopias (thresher shark)
Taxonomy
Alopias was named by Rafinesque (1810) [Sepkoski's age data: T Eo-l R Sepkoski's reference number: 884]. It is extant. Its type is Alopias macrourus.
It was assigned to Lamnidae by Dartevelle and Casier (1943), Casier (1958); to Lamniformes by Sepkoski (2002); and to Alopiidae by Herman (1977), Thurmond and Jones (1981), Kumar and Loyal (1987), Purdy et al. (2001), Antunes and Balbino (2003), Compagno (2005), Kocsis (2007), Cicimurri and Knight (2009), Reinecke and Radwanski (2015), Carrillo-Briceño et al. (2016), Hastings and Dooley (2017), Kent (2018), Landini et al. (2019), Villafaña et al. (2020), Landau et al. (2025), Cicimurri et al. (2025).
It was assigned to Lamnidae by Dartevelle and Casier (1943), Casier (1958); to Lamniformes by Sepkoski (2002); and to Alopiidae by Herman (1977), Thurmond and Jones (1981), Kumar and Loyal (1987), Purdy et al. (2001), Antunes and Balbino (2003), Compagno (2005), Kocsis (2007), Cicimurri and Knight (2009), Reinecke and Radwanski (2015), Carrillo-Briceño et al. (2016), Hastings and Dooley (2017), Kent (2018), Landini et al. (2019), Villafaña et al. (2020), Landau et al. (2025), Cicimurri et al. (2025).
Species
A. acutidens, A. alabamensis, A. denticulatus, A. exigua, A. grandis, A. hermani, A. latidens, A. macrourus (type species), A. palatasi, A. superciliosus, A. vulpinus
Species lacking formal opinion data
Synonymy list
| Year | Name and author |
|---|---|
| 1810 | Alopias Rafinesque |
| 1943 | Alopias Dartevelle and Casier p. 142 |
| 1958 | Alopias Casier p. 38 |
| 1977 | Alopias Herman p. 166 |
| 1981 | Alopias Thurmond and Jones p. 58 |
| 1987 | Alopias Kumar and Loyal p. 63 |
| 2001 | Alopias Purdy et al. p. 107 |
| 2002 | Alopias Sepkoski |
| 2003 | Alopias Antunes and Balbino p. 143 |
| 2005 | Alopias Compagno |
| 2007 | Alopias Kocsis p. 34 |
| 2009 | Alopias Cicimurri and Knight p. 630 |
| 2015 | Alopias Reinecke and Radwanski p. 9 |
| 2016 | Alopias Carrillo-Briceño et al. p. 86 |
| 2017 | Alopias Hastings and Dooley p. 83 |
| 2018 | Alopias Kent p. 97 |
| 2019 | Alopias Landini et al. p. 357 |
| 2020 | Alopias Villafaña et al. |
| 2025 | Alopias Cicimurri et al. p. 17 |
| 2025 | Alopias Landau et al. p. 10 |
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If no rank is listed, the taxon is considered an unranked clade in modern classifications. Ranks may be repeated or presented in the wrong order because authors working on different parts of the classification may disagree about how to rank taxa.
G. Alopias Rafinesque 1810 [thresher shark]
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†Alopias acutidens Casier 1958
†Alopias alabamensis White 1956
†Alopias denticulatus Cappetta 1981
†Alopias exigua Probst 1879
†Alopias grandis Leriche 1942
†Alopias hermani Kozlov 1999
†Alopias latidens Leriche 1909
†Alopias latidens carolinensis White 1956
Alopias macrourus Rafinesque 1810
†Alopias palatasi Kent 2018
Alopias superciliosus Lowe 1840 [bigeye thresher]
Alopias vulpinus Bonnaterre 1788 [common thresher]
Diagnosis
No diagnoses are available
Measurements
No measurements are available
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| Source: o = order, subp = subphylum | |||||
| References: Hendy et al. 2009, Carroll 1988, Wagner 2023 | |||||
Age range
Maximum range based only on fossils: base of the Ypresian to the top of the Holocene or 56.00000 to 0.00000 Ma
Minimum age of oldest fossil (stem group age): 48.07 Ma
Minimum age of oldest fossil (stem group age): 48.07 Ma
Collections (126 total)
| Time interval | Ma | Country or state | Original ID and collection number |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ypresian | India (Himachal Pradesh) | Alopias vulpinus (31267) | |
| Ypresian | Morocco | Alopias denticulatus (214840) | |
| Lutetian | Ukraine | Alopias alabamensis (211009) | |
| Lutetian | France | Alopias denticulatus (277214 277215 277216 277217) Alopias sp. (61215) | |
| Lutetian | United Kingdom (England) | Alopias leensis (41989 41992) | |
| Lutetian - Bartonian | Egypt | Alopias sp. (137539) | |
| Middle Eocene | Ukraine | Alopias sp., Alopias denticulatus, Alopias alabamensis (113113) | |
| Middle Eocene | Ukraine (Crimea) | Alopias alabamensis (140018) | |
| Middle Eocene - Late/Upper Eocene | Egypt | Alopias alabamensis (62459) | |
| Lutetian - Chattian | Congo-Kinshasa | Alopias sp., Alopias latidens (275437) | |
| Bartonian | USA (Alabama) | Alopias latidens (16848) | |
| Bartonian | Russian Federation (Krasnodar) | Alopias sp., Alopias denticulatus, Alopias alabamensis (187028) | |
| Late/Upper Eocene | Egypt | Alopias alabamensis (62468) | |
| Priabonian | USA (Louisiana) | Alopias latidens (75638) | |
| Priabonian | Barbados | Alopias grandis, Alopias acutidens (205153) | |
| Priabonian | Jordan | Alopias sp. (32899) | |
| Priabonian | USA (Alabama) | Alopias latidens (45637) | |
| Priabonian | USA (South Carolina) | Alopias sp. (202014) | |
| Priabonian | Egypt | Alopias alabamensis (137542 137543 137545 137549 137553 137557 137574) Alopias sp. (137546 137547 137548 137550 137551 137554 137556 137558 137573 137575 137579 137583 137588) Alopias sp., Alopias alabamensis (96952) | |
| Priabonian | Western Sahara | Alopias alabamensis (96686 96688) | |
| Rupelian | Poland | Alopias sp. (276532) | |
| Rupelian | Czechia (Moravia) | Alopias sp. (104941) Alopias superciliosus (210132) | |
| Rupelian | Belgium | Alopias exigua (276448 277430 277480 277489) | |
| Rupelian | Kazakhstan | Alopias latidens (277572) | |
| Rupelian | France | Alopias exigua (69805) | |
| Rupelian | Czechia | Alopias exigua (125331) Alopias superciliosus (276544) | |
| Chattian | USA (Mississippi) | Alopias sp. (133111) | |
| Chattian | USA (California) | Alopias vulpinus, Alopias latidens, Alopias exigua (11601) | |
| Chattian | USA (South Carolina) | Alopias vulpinus (97550) | |
| Aquitanian | Russian Federation (Sakhalin) | Alopias superciliosus (138022) | |
| Aquitanian | Colombia (La Guajira) | Alopias superciliosus (182218) | |
| Aquitanian | Malta (Bahrija) | Alopias sp. (161388) | |
| Early/Lower Miocene | USA (North Carolina) | Alopias superciliosus (71660) | |
| Early/Lower Miocene | India (Mizoram) | Alopias sp. (241735) | |
| Early/Lower Miocene | India | Alopias valpes (87485) | |
| Early/Lower Miocene | Chile | Alopias superciliosus (241729) | |
| Aquitanian - Langhian | USA (North Carolina) | Alopias superciliosus, Alopias vulpinus (48887) | |
| Miocene | USA (South Carolina) | Alopecias grandis (18506) | |
| Neogene | Indian Ocean | Alopias superciliosus (55451) | |
| Burdigalian | Germany (Bavaria) | Alopias exigua (210593) | |
| Burdigalian | Venezuela (Falcón) | Alopias vulpinus (228725 276389 276390) | |
| Burdigalian | Peru | Alopias superciliosus (167732) | |
| Burdigalian | Austria (Plesching bei Linz) | Alopias latidens, Alopias exigua (159375) | |
| Burdigalian | Belgium | Alopias latidens, Alopias exigua (208831) | |
| Burdigalian | Malta (Gozo) | Alopias sp. (161385) | |
| Burdigalian | Slovakia | Oxyrhina exigua (48642) | |
| Burdigalian | Germany | Alopias exigua (277549) | |
| Burdigalian | Peru (Ica) | Alopias superciliosus, Alopias vulpinus (100330) | |
| Burdigalian | Malta (Bahrija) | Alopias sp. (161386) | |
| Burdigalian | Hungary | Alopias exigua (210623) | |
| Burdigalian - Serravallian | Portugal | Alopias vulpinus (277556) | |
| Langhian | Mexico (Baja California) | Alopias sp. (52183) | |
| Langhian | Belgium (Flemish Region) | Alopias exigua (275668) | |
| Langhian | Portugal (Penedo) | Alopias sp. (161620) | |
| Langhian | USA (Maryland) | Alopias palatasi (70823) | |
| Langhian | France | Alopias superciliosus (277771) | |
| Langhian | USA (Virginia) | Alopias latidens (79793) | |
| Langhian - Serravallian | Mexico (Baja California Sur) | Alopias sp. (13450) | |
| Middle Miocene | Japan (Hokuriku) | Alopias superciliosus (161492) | |
| Middle Miocene | Japan (Gifu) | Alopias sp., Alopias latidens, Alopias exigua (161445) | |
| Middle Miocene | India (Orissa) | Alopias vulpes (46343) | |
| Badenian | Poland | Alopias exigua (162017) | |
| Serravallian | France (Gironde) | Alopias sp. (161524 161525 161527) | |
| Serravallian | France | Alopias sp. (85338) | |
| Serravallian | USA (Virginia) | Alopecias grandis (71798) Alopias sp. (57700) | |
| Serravallian - Tortonian | Malta (Ras ii-Karraba) | Alopias sp. (161384) | |
| Tortonian | USA (Virginia) | Alopias latidents (152251) | |
| Tortonian | Belgium | Alopias sp. (217346) | |
| Tortonian | Portugal | Alopias exigua (276004) | |
| Tortonian | Panama (Colon) | Alopias superciliosus (160781) | |
| Late/Upper Miocene | Costa Rica (Limon) | Alopias superciliosus (162678) | |
| Late/Upper Miocene | Panama (Panama) | Alopias superciliosus (191995 191996) Alopias vulpinus (191987 191998) | |
| Messinian | Portugal | Alopias superciliosus (65954) | |
| Zanclean | Spain (Huelva) | Alopias vulpinus (151890) | |
| Zanclean | Italy | Alopias superciliosus (204946) Alopias vulpinus (276542) | |
| Zanclean | Libya | Alopias vulpinus (136597) | |
| Zanclean | South Africa | Alopias vulpinus (100313) | |
| Zanclean | USA (North Carolina) | Alopias vulpinus (52582) | |
| Piacenzian | Peru | Alopias sp. (219058) | |
| Piacenzian | Italy | Alopias superciliosus (277335) | |
| Piacenzian - Gelasian | USA (California) | Alopias sp. (277711) | |
| Early/Lower Pleistocene | USA (South Carolina) | Alopias vulpinus (188304) | |
| Calabrian | Peru (Ica) | Alopias sp. (219059) | |
| Late/Upper Pleistocene | USA (California) | Alopias vulpinus (59063 190889) | |
| Holocene | USA (California) | Alopias vulpinus (276600) |