Otodus auriculatus is an otodontid mackerel shark from the Eocene-Oligocene of the entire world. It was named in 1923 by David Starr Jordan. It was one of the largest sharks of the Paleogene, and it is considered to be an intermediate between earlier otodontids and the famous Otodus megalodon.
Physiology[]
Like O.megalodon, O.auriculatus most likely resembled a giant great white shark. It was a large fish with a torpedo-shaped body, triangular pectoral (arm) and dorsal (back) fins, a crescent-shaped caudal (tail) fin, a mid-sized head with a pointy, conical nose and large jaws, and 5 gills located near the head on each side of its body. Its body would have been covered in scaly skin.
Diet[]
O.auriculatus was a predator, preying on small whales, seals, turtles, and smaller sharks. Its large, triangular teeth had knife-like serrations from front to back, and were used to slice the flesh of larger prey.
Ecology[]
So far, all we know about O.auriculatus is that, like O.megalodon, it would have been a competent epipelagic apex predator, boasting a great sense of smell, a wide gape, robust, sharp teeth, massive, strong jaws, and a lateral line that could detect movement in the water; as well as this, it would have preferred to prey on smaller primitive whales than larger ones, and, when hunting prey, it would wait for them to surface for air right before ramming into them at great speeds, incapacitating them and allowing the shark to finish them off.