PBDB Taxon

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Alopias (thresher shark)

Chondrichthyes - Lamniformes - Alopiidae

Taxonomy

Alopias was named by Rafinesque (1810) [Sepkoski's age data: T Eo-l R Sepkoski's reference number: 884]. It is extant. It is the type genus of Alopiidae.

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), Compagno (1984), 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), Goedert et al. (2024), Landau et al. (2025), Cicimurri et al. (2025), Cicimurri et al. (2026), Marramà et al. (2026).

Species

Alopecias smithwoodwardi, A. acutidens, A. crochardi, A. denticulatus, A. exigua, A. grandis, A. hermani, A. latidens, A. palatasi, A. pelagicus, A. subexigua, A. superciliosus, A. vulpinus (syn. A. macrourus)

Species lacking formal opinion data

A. , A. latidents, A. leensis, A. valpes, A. vulpes

Entered

by J. Sepkoski on 2003-01-23; modified by M. Clapham on 2026-08-01

Synonyms

Vulpecula was named by Valmont (1768).

It was synonymized subjectively with Alopias by Compagno (1984).

It was assigned to Alopiidae by Jordan (1963).
Alopecias was named by Canto (1886).

It was synonymized subjectively with Alopias by Dartevelle and Casier (1943), Compagno (1984).

It was assigned to Lamnidae by Woodward (1889), Leriche (1926), Bohm (1926), Leriche (1942); and to Alopiidae by Jordan (1963).

Synonymy list

Year	Name and author
1768	Vulpecula Valmont
1810	Alopias Rafinesque
1886	Alopecias Canto
1889	Alopecias Woodward p. 375
1926	Alopecias Bohm p. 80
1926	Alopecias Leriche p. 411
1942	Alopecias Leriche p. 73
1943	Alopias Dartevelle and Casier p. 142
1958	Alopias Casier p. 38
1963	Alopecias Jordan p. 599
1963	Vulpecula Jordan p. 599
1977	Alopias Herman p. 166
1981	Alopias Thurmond and Jones p. 58
1984	Alopias Compagno p. 229
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.
2024	Alopias Goedert et al. p. 457
2025	Alopias Cicimurri et al. p. 17
2025	Alopias Landau et al. p. 10
2026	Alopias Cicimurri et al. p. 456
2026	Alopias Marramà et al. p. 8

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Rank	Name	Author
kingdom	Animalia	()
—	Bilateria
—	Eubilateria	Ax 1987
—	Deuterostomia
phylum	Chordata	Haeckel 1874
subphylum	Vertebrata
superclass	Gnathostomata
class	Chondrichthyes

Rank	Name	Author
infraclass	Elasmobranchii	(Bonaparte 1838)
—	Euselachii	()
—	Neoselachii	Compagno 1977
superorder	Galeomorphii	Compagno 1973
order	Lamniformes	Berg 1958
family	Alopiidae	Bonaparte 1838
genus	Alopias	Rafinesque 1810

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 crochardi Ward 1978

†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 palatasi Kent 2018

Alopias pelagicus Nakamura 1935 [pelagic thresher]

†Alopias subexigua Dartevelle and Casier 1959

Alopias superciliosus Lowe 1840 [bigeye thresher]

Alopias vulpinus Bonnaterre 1788 [common thresher]

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Invalid names: Alopias macrourus Rafinesque 1810 [synonym]

Invalid names: Alopecias Canto 1886 [synonym], Vulpecula Valmont 1768 [synonym]

Diagnosis

No diagnoses are available

Measurements

No measurements are available

Composition:

phosphaticsubp

Environment:

marinesubp

Locomotion:

actively mobileo

Life habit:

nektonico

Diet:

carnivoreo

Created:

2009-07-21 07:05:21

Modified:

2009-07-21 09:05:21

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

Collections (140 total)

Time interval	Ma	Country or state	Original ID and collection number
Ypresian	56.0 - 48.07	USA (Washington)	Alopias sp. (278111)
Ypresian	56.0 - 48.07	Denmark	Alopias crochardi (277915)
Ypresian	56.0 - 48.07	India (Himachal Pradesh)	Alopias vulpinus (31267)
Ypresian	56.0 - 48.07	Morocco	Alopias denticulatus (214840 278288)
Ypresian - Lutetian	56.0 - 41.03	Denmark	Alopias crochardi (180458)
Lutetian	48.07 - 41.03	Uzbekistan (Navoi)	Alopias denticulatus (280683)
Lutetian	48.07 - 41.03	France	Alopias denticulatus (277214 277215 277216 277217) Alopias sp. (61215)
Lutetian	48.07 - 41.03	Jordan	Alopias subexigua (64351)
Lutetian	48.07 - 41.03	Austria	Alopias sp. (280284)
Lutetian	48.07 - 41.03	United Kingdom (England)	Alopias leensis (41989 41992)
Lutetian - Bartonian	48.07 - 37.71	Egypt	Alopias sp. (137539)
Middle Eocene	48.07 - 37.71	Ukraine	Alopias sp., Alopias denticulatus (113113)
Lutetian - Chattian	48.07 - 23.04	Congo-Kinshasa	Alopias sp., Alopias latidens (275437)
Bartonian	41.03 - 37.71	Russian Federation (Krasnodar)	Alopias sp., Alopias denticulatus (187028)
Bartonian	41.03 - 37.71	Kazakhstan	Alopias hermani (278287)
Bartonian	41.03 - 37.71	Egypt	Alopias sp. (137547)
Priabonian	37.71 - 33.9	Egypt	Alopias sp. (96952 137546 137548 137550 137551 137554 137556 137558 137573 137575 137579 137583 137588)
Priabonian	37.71 - 33.9	Jordan	Alopias sp. (32899)
Priabonian	37.71 - 33.9	Barbados	Alopias grandis, Alopias acutidens (205153)
Priabonian	37.71 - 33.9	USA (South Carolina)	Alopias sp. (202014)
Priabonian	37.71 - 33.9	Namibia (Sperrgebiet)	Alopecias smithwoodwardi (149316)
Priabonian	37.71 - 33.9	USA (Louisiana)	Alopias latidens (75638)
Rupelian	33.9 - 27.3	Poland	Alopias sp. (276532) Alopias superciliosus (280428 280429)
Rupelian	33.9 - 27.3	France	Alopias exigua (69805)
Rupelian	33.9 - 27.3	Belgium (Antwerpen)	Alopias latidens, Alopias exigua (52047)
Rupelian	33.9 - 27.3	Czechia	Alopias exigua (125331) Alopias superciliosus (276544)
Rupelian	33.9 - 27.3	Kazakhstan	Alopias latidens (277572)
Rupelian	33.9 - 27.3	Czechia (Moravia)	Alopias sp. (104941) Alopias superciliosus (210132)
Rupelian	33.9 - 27.3	Ecuador (Santa Elena)	Alopias latidens, Alopias exigua (280969)
Rupelian	33.9 - 27.3	Belgium	Alopias exigua (276448 277430 277480 277489) Alopias latidens (277884) Alopias latidens, Alopias exigua (187032)
Chattian	27.3 - 23.04	USA (South Carolina)	Alopias vulpinus (97550)
Chattian	27.3 - 23.04	USA (Mississippi)	Alopias sp. (133111)
Aquitanian	23.04 - 20.45	Russian Federation (Sakhalin)	Alopias superciliosus (138022)
Aquitanian	23.04 - 20.45	Colombia (La Guajira)	Alopias superciliosus (182218)
Aquitanian	23.04 - 20.45	Peru (Ica)	Alopias superciliosus, Alopias vulpinus (278688)
Aquitanian	23.04 - 20.45	Malta (Bahrija)	Alopias sp. (161388)
Aquitanian	23.04 - 20.45	USA (California)	Alopias vulpinus, Alopias latidens, Alopias exigua (11601)
Early/Lower Miocene	23.04 - 15.98	India	Alopias valpes (87485)
Early/Lower Miocene	23.04 - 15.98	USA (North Carolina)	Alopias superciliosus (71660)
Early/Lower Miocene	23.04 - 15.98	India (Mizoram)	Alopias sp. (241735)
Early/Lower Miocene	23.04 - 15.98	Chile	Alopias superciliosus (241729)
Aquitanian - Langhian	23.04 - 13.82	USA (North Carolina)	Alopias superciliosus, Alopias vulpinus (48887)
Neogene	23.04 - 2.58	Indian Ocean	Alopias superciliosus (55451)
Burdigalian	20.45 - 15.98	Malta (Bahrija)	Alopias sp. (161386)
Burdigalian	20.45 - 15.98	Peru (Ica)	Alopias superciliosus, Alopias vulpinus (100330)
Burdigalian	20.45 - 15.98	Belgium	Alopias latidens, Alopias exigua (208831)
Burdigalian	20.45 - 15.98	Austria (Plesching bei Linz)	Alopias latidens, Alopias exigua (159375)
Burdigalian	20.45 - 15.98	Peru	Alopias superciliosus (167732)
Burdigalian	20.45 - 15.98	Germany (Bavaria)	Alopias exigua (210593)
Burdigalian	20.45 - 15.98	Slovakia	Oxyrhina exigua (48642)
Burdigalian	20.45 - 15.98	Germany	Alopias exigua (277549)
Burdigalian	20.45 - 15.98	Malta (Gozo)	Alopias sp. (161385)
Burdigalian	20.45 - 15.98	Germany (Baden-Württemberg)	Alopias exigua (280822)
Burdigalian	20.45 - 15.98	Hungary	Alopias exigua (210623)
Burdigalian	20.45 - 15.98	Venezuela (Falcón)	Alopias vulpinus (228725 276389 276390)
Burdigalian - Serravallian	20.45 - 11.63	Portugal	Alopias vulpinus (277556)
Langhian	15.98 - 13.82	USA (Virginia)	Alopias latidens (79793)
Langhian	15.98 - 13.82	Portugal (Penedo)	Alopias sp. (161620)
Langhian	15.98 - 13.82	USA (Maryland)	Alopias palatasi (70823)
Langhian	15.98 - 13.82	Belgium (Flemish Region)	Alopias exigua (275668)
Langhian	15.98 - 13.82	Mexico (Baja California)	Alopias sp. (52183)
Langhian	15.98 - 13.82	France	Alopias superciliosus (277771)
Langhian	15.98 - 13.82	France (Indre-et-Loire)	Alopias sp. (280873)
Langhian - Serravallian	15.98 - 11.63	Mexico (Baja California Sur)	Alopias sp. (13450)
Middle Miocene	15.98 - 11.63	Japan	Alopias superciliosus (161492)
Middle Miocene	15.98 - 11.63	India (Orissa)	Alopias vulpes (46343)
Middle Miocene	15.98 - 11.63	Japan (Gifu)	Alopias sp., Alopias latidens, Alopias exigua (161445)
Badenian	13.82 - 12.8	Poland	Alopias exigua (162017)
Serravallian	13.82 - 11.63	USA (South Carolina)	Alopecias grandis (18506)
Serravallian	13.82 - 11.63	France (Gironde)	Alopias sp. 1 (161524 161525 161527)
Serravallian	13.82 - 11.63	France	Alopias sp. (85338) Alopias superciliosus (277911) Alopias superciliosus, Alopias vulpinus (277907 277908)
Serravallian	13.82 - 11.63	Poland (Silesian Voivodeship)	Alopias (280589)
Serravallian	13.82 - 11.63	USA (Virginia)	Alopecias grandis (71798) Alopias sp. (57700)
Serravallian - Tortonian	13.82 - 7.246	Malta (Ras ii-Karraba)	Alopias sp. (161384)
Tortonian	11.63 - 7.246	Panama (Colon)	Alopias superciliosus (160781)
Tortonian	11.63 - 7.246	Portugal	Alopias exigua (276004)
Tortonian	11.63 - 7.246	Belgium	Alopias sp. (217346)
Tortonian	11.63 - 7.246	USA (Virginia)	Alopias latidents (152251)
Late/Upper Miocene	11.63 - 5.333	Costa Rica (Limon)	Alopias superciliosus (162678)
Late/Upper Miocene	11.63 - 5.333	Panama (Panama)	Alopias superciliosus (191995 191996) Alopias vulpinus (191987 191998)
Late/Upper Miocene - Zanclean	11.63 - 3.6	Venezuela	Alopias superciliosus (280308 280309)
Messinian	7.246 - 5.333	Portugal	Alopias superciliosus (65954 91423)
Zanclean	5.333 - 3.6	Italy	Alopias superciliosus (204946) Alopias vulpinus (276542)
Zanclean	5.333 - 3.6	South Africa	Alopias vulpinus (100313)
Zanclean	5.333 - 3.6	USA (North Carolina)	Alopias vulpinus (52582)
Zanclean	5.333 - 3.6	Spain (Huelva)	Alopias vulpinus (151890)
Zanclean	5.333 - 3.6	Libya	Alopias vulpinus (136597)
Pliocene	5.333 - 2.58	North Atlantic	Alopias grandis (278446 278448)
Pliocene - Gelasian	5.333 - 1.8	USA (Florida)	Alopias vulpinus (242028)
Late/Upper Pliocene	3.6 - 2.58	Argentina (Buenos Aires)	Alopecias latidens (213136)
Piacenzian	3.6 - 2.58	Peru	Alopias sp. (219058)
Piacenzian	3.6 - 2.58	Italy	Alopias superciliosus (277335)
Piacenzian - Gelasian	3.6 - 1.8	USA (California)	Alopias sp. (277711)
Early/Lower Pleistocene	2.58 - 0.774	USA (South Carolina)	Alopias vulpinus (188304)
Calabrian	1.8 - 0.774	Peru (Ica)	Alopias sp. (219059)
Late/Upper Pleistocene	0.129 - 0.0117	USA (California)	Alopias vulpinus (59063 190889)
Holocene	0.0117 - 0.0	USA (California)	Alopias vulpinus (276600)