Stratum.black
Cretolamna — Cretolamna
Cretolamna — Kenshu Shimada, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY SA 4.0

Shark / ray

Cretolamna

Cretaceous mackerel shark

Cretolamna (often spelled Cretalamna) is the widespread Cretaceous–Paleocene lamniform shark with smooth-edged teeth flanked by broad triangular cusplets, ancestral to Otodus. Its teeth are abundant in the Moroccan phosphates, the Kansas chalk and New Jersey greensands and are among the cheapest Cretaceous shark teeth. It is a good comparison specimen alongside Otodus obliquus.

PhylumChordata
ClassChondrichthyes
OrderLamniformes
FamilyOtodontidae
GroupShark / ray
Rank (PBDB)genus· Paleobiology Database
AuthorGlikman 1958· Paleobiology Database
Accepted name (PBDB)Cretalamna· Paleobiology Database
Classification (PBDB)Chordata › Chondrichthyes › Lamniformes › Otodontidae· Paleobiology Database
Range (PBDB)165–11.6 Ma· Paleobiology Database
PBDB occurrences419· Paleobiology Database

Photographs

Cretolamna — Cretolamna appendiculata (NHMUK PV P 73303)
Cretolamna appendiculata (NHMUK PV P 73303) — © The Trustees of the Natural History Museum, London, Natural History Museum (London) Data Portal, CC BY 4.0
Cretolamna — Cretolamna appendiculata (NHMUK PV OR 35127)
Cretolamna appendiculata (NHMUK PV OR 35127) — © The Trustees of the Natural History Museum, London, Natural History Museum (London) Data Portal, CC BY 4.0

Age

Formations

Elsewhere

Cite this article

Stratum Study. "Cretolamna" (Taxon). Stratum Study pack 2026.09, as of 2026-09-19. https://stratum.black/study/taxa/cretolamna. Accessed 2026-09-20.

BibTeX · CSL-JSON

@misc{stratum-cretolamna,
  title        = {Cretolamna},
  author       = {{Stratum Study}},
  howpublished = {\url{https://stratum.black/study/taxa/cretolamna}},
  year         = {2026},
  note         = {Taxon article, Stratum Study pack 2026.09, as of 2026-09-19; sources: stratum, pbdb, wikidata, commons, nhm. Accessed 2026-09-20.}
}

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