Megachasma applegatei
{{Short description|Extinct species of shark}}
{{Speciesbox
| fossil_range = {{Geological range|Chattian|Aquitanian}}
| genus = Megachasma
| species = applegatei
| authority = Shimada, Welton and Long, 2014
| extinct = yes
}}
Megachasma applegatei is an extinct species of megamouth shark from the Oligocene to early Miocene (28-23 Mya) of the Western United States.{{cite web |title=†family Megachasmidae (mackerel shark) |url=https://paleobiodb.org/classic/checkTaxonInfo?taxon_no=83151&is_real_user=1 |website=PBDB}}{{cite web |title=Megachasma applegatei SHIMADA, WELTON & LONG, 2014 |url=https://shark-references.com/species/view/Megachasma-applegatei |website=Shark reference.com}} The type fossil was discovered in the San Joaquin Valley in 1973, but only described in 2014, when the species was named after its discoverer, Shelton Applegate.{{cite web |title=A Forgotten Fossil Megamouth Gets a Name |url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/phenomena/2014/03/12/a-forgotten-fossil-megamouth-gets-a-name/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190514182338/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/phenomena/2014/03/12/a-forgotten-fossil-megamouth-gets-a-name/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=May 14, 2019 |website=National Geographic}}
Description
Megachasma applegatei is only known from isolated teeth. Based on comparison with the teeth of the recent species (Megachasma pelagios), it was approximately 6 m long and, like modern megamouth sharks, probably fed on fish and small planktonic invertebrates both in deep and shallow water habitats. Its teeth had shorter crowns and a pair of side cusplets.{{cite journal |last1=Shimada|first1=K.|last2=Welton|first2=B. J.|last3=Long|first3=D. J.|year=2014|title=A new fossil megamouth shark (Lamniformes, Megachasmidae) from the Oligocene-Miocene of the western United States|journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology|volume=34|issue=2|pages=281–290|url=https://figshare.com/articles/A_new_fossil_megamouth_shark_Lamniformes_Megachasmidae_from_the_Oligocene_Miocene_of_the_western_United_States/963513|doi=10.1080/02724634.2013.803975|bibcode=2014JVPal..34..281S |s2cid=83949683 }} The teeth were also more variable in shape than the modern megamouth's, and may have been arranged in the distinctive heterodont "lamnoid tooth pattern" seen in predatory lamniform sharks.{{Cite journal |last1=Krak |first1=Alexandra M. |last2=Shimada |first2=Kenshu |date=2023 |title=The dentition of the extinct megamouth shark, Megachasma applegatei (Lamniformes: Megachasmidae), from southern California, USA, based on geometric morphometrics |url=https://escholarship.org/uc/item/4990r1hx |journal=PaleoBios |language=en |volume=40 |issue=1 |doi=10.5070/P940160139 |issn=0031-0298|doi-access=free }}
References
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{{Taxonbar|from=Q22104176}}
Category:Fossil taxa described in 2014
Category:Cenozoic fish of North America
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