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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.
It was assigned to Lamnidae by 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), Cicimurri et al. (2025).
It was assigned to Lamnidae by 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), Cicimurri et al. (2025).
Species
Species lacking formal opinion data
Synonymy list
| Year | Name and author |
|---|---|
| 1810 | Alopias Rafinesque |
| 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 |
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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 exigua Probst 1879
†Alopias grandis Leriche 1942
†Alopias latidens alabamensis White 1956
Alopias macrourus Rafinesque 1810
†Alopias palatasi Kent 2018
†Alopias superciliosus Lowe 1840
†Alopias vulpinus Bonnaterre 1788
Diagnosis
No diagnoses are available
Measurements
No measurements are available
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| Source: o = order, subp = subphylum | |||||
| References: Carroll 1988, Hendy et al. 2009, Wagner 2023 | |||||
Age range
Maximum range based only on fossils: base of the Ypresian to the top of the Late/Upper Pleistocene or 56.00000 to 0.01170 Ma
Minimum age of oldest fossil (stem group age): 48.07 Ma
Minimum age of oldest fossil (stem group age): 48.07 Ma
Collections (89 total)
| Time interval | Ma | Country or state | Original ID and collection number |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ypresian | India (Himachal Pradesh) | Alopias vulpinus (31267) | |
| Lutetian | Ukraine | Alopias alabamensis (211009) | |
| Lutetian | United Kingdom (England) | Alopias leensis (41989 41992) | |
| Lutetian - Bartonian | Egypt | Alopias sp. (137539) | |
| 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) | |
| Late/Upper Eocene | Egypt | Alopias alabamensis (62468) | |
| Priabonian | Barbados | Alopias grandis, Alopias acutidens (205153) | |
| Priabonian | USA (Louisiana) | Alopias latidens (75638) | |
| Priabonian | USA (South Carolina) | Alopias sp. (202014) | |
| Priabonian | Egypt | Alopias alabamensis, Alopias sp. (96952) Alopias sp. (137546 137547 137548 137550 137551 137554 137556 137558 137573 137575 137579 137583 137588) | |
| Priabonian | Western Sahara | Alopias alabamensis (96686 96688) | |
| Priabonian | USA (Alabama) | Alopias latidens (45637) | |
| Priabonian | Jordan | Alopias sp. (32899) | |
| Early/Lower Oligocene | France | Alopias exigua (69805) | |
| Rupelian | Czechia (Moravia) | Alopias sp. (104941) | |
| Oligocene | Czechia | Alopias exigua (125331) | |
| Chattian | USA (Mississippi) | Alopias sp. (133111) | |
| Chattian | USA (South Carolina) | Alopias vulpinus (97550) | |
| Chattian | USA (California) | Alopias vulpinus, Alopias latidens, Alopias exigua (11601) | |
| Aquitanian | Malta (Bahrija) | Alopias sp. (161388) | |
| Aquitanian | Russian Federation (Sakhalin) | Alopias superciliosus (138022) | |
| Aquitanian | Colombia (La Guajira) | Alopias superciliosus (182218) | |
| Early/Lower Miocene | USA (North Carolina) | Alopias superciliosus (71660) | |
| Early/Lower Miocene | India | Alopias valpes (87485) | |
| Aquitanian - Langhian | USA (North Carolina) | Alopias superciliosus, Alopias vulpinus (48887) | |
| Miocene | USA (South Carolina) | Alopecias grandis (18506) | |
| Neogene | Indian Ocean | Alopias superciliosus (55451) | |
| Burdigalian | Peru (Ica) | Alopias superciliosus, Alopias vulpinus (100330) | |
| Burdigalian | Hungary | Alopias exigua (210623) | |
| Burdigalian | Austria (Plesching bei Linz) | Alopias latidens, Alopias exigua (159375) | |
| Burdigalian | Malta (Gozo) | Alopias sp. (161385) | |
| Burdigalian | Peru | Alopias superciliosus (167732) | |
| Burdigalian | Malta (Bahrija) | Alopias sp. (161386) | |
| Burdigalian | Slovakia | Oxyrhina exigua (48642) | |
| Burdigalian | Germany (Bavaria) | Alopias exigua (210593) | |
| Langhian | USA (Virginia) | Alopias latidens (79793) | |
| Langhian | Portugal (Penedo) | Alopias sp. (161620) | |
| Langhian | USA (Maryland) | Alopias palatasi (70823) | |
| Langhian | Mexico (Baja California) | Alopias sp. (52183) | |
| Langhian - Serravallian | Mexico (Baja California Sur) | Alopias sp. (13450) | |
| Middle Miocene | Japan (Gifu) | Alopias sp., Alopias latidens, Alopias exigua (161445) | |
| Middle Miocene | India (Orissa) | Alopias vulpes (46343) | |
| Middle Miocene | Japan (Hokuriku) | Alopias superciliosus (161492) | |
| Badenian | Belgium | Alopias latidens, Alopias exigua (208831) | |
| Badenian | Poland | Alopias exigua (162017) | |
| Serravallian | France | Alopias sp. (85338) | |
| Serravallian | France (Gironde) | Alopias sp. (161524 161525 161527) | |
| Serravallian | USA (Virginia) | Alopecias grandis (71798) Alopias sp. (57700) | |
| Serravallian - Tortonian | Malta (Ras ii-Karraba) | Alopias sp. (161384) | |
| Tortonian | Panama (Colon) | Alopias superciliosus (160781) | |
| Tortonian | USA (Virginia) | Alopias latidents (152251) | |
| Tortonian | Belgium | Alopias sp. (217346) | |
| Late/Upper Miocene | Costa Rica (Limon) | Alopias superciliosus (162678) | |
| Late/Upper Miocene | Panama (Panama) | Alopias superciliosus (191995 191996) Alopias vulpinus (191987 191998) | |
| MN 13 | Portugal | Alopias superciliosus (65954) | |
| Zanclean | Italy | Alopias superciliosus (204946) | |
| Zanclean | USA (North Carolina) | Alopias vulpinus (52582) | |
| Zanclean | Libya | Alopias vulpinus (136597) | |
| Zanclean | Spain (Huelva) | Alopias vulpinus (151890) | |
| Zanclean | South Africa | Alopias vulpinus (100313) | |
| Piacenzian | Peru | Alopias sp. (219058) | |
| Early/Lower Pleistocene | USA (South Carolina) | Alopias vulpinus (188304) | |
| Calabrian | Peru (Ica) | Alopias sp. (219059) | |
| Late/Upper Pleistocene | USA (California) | Alopias vulpinus (59063 190889) |