Otodontidae

{{Short description|Extinct family of sharks}}

{{Automatic taxobox

| fossil_range = Albian-Pleistocene
~{{fossil range|115|1.1}}

| image = LACM 128126 - Dentiton.png

| image_caption = Teeth and jaws of Cretalamna hattini

| image2 = Otodontidae teeth with scale.jpg

| image2_caption = Three otodontid species, from left to right there is Cretalamna, Otodus obliquus and Otodus megalodon

| taxon = Otodontidae

| authority = Gluckman 1964

| subdivision_ranks = Genera

| subdivision = Cretalamna

Kenolamna

Megalolamna

Otodus

Palaeocarcharodon

Parotodus?

}}

Otodontidae is an extinct family of sharks belonging to the order Lamniformes. Its members have been described as megatoothed sharks.{{Cite web|url=https://naturalhistory.si.edu/exhibits/mega-toothed-shark|title=Mega-toothed Shark|website=Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History|archive-date=|access-date=2019-09-21}}{{Cite web|url=https://eos.org/articles/extinct-megatoothed-shark-may-have-been-warm-blooded|title=Extinct Megatoothed Shark May Have Been Warm-Blooded|last=Cartier|first=Kimberly M.S.|date=2018-12-11|website=Eos|archive-date=|access-date=2019-09-21}} They lived from the Early Cretaceous to the Pliocene, and included genera such as Otodus, including the giant megalodon.{{cite book |author=Joseph S. Nelson |year=2006 |title=Fishes of the World |edition=4th |publisher=John Wiley and Sons |isbn=978-0-471-25031-9 |chapter=Order Lamniformes |pages=57–60 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-bO-2unzU-8C&pg=PA57}} Recent studies of the newly described genus Megalolamna indicate that the members of the genus Carcharocles should be reclassified as members of the genus Otodus.[http://phys.org/news/2016-10-large-prehistoric-shark.html Large prehistoric shark] The genus Cretalamna which lived from the mid-Cretaceous-Paleogene is believed to be directly ancestral to Otodus, and thus to megalodon.{{cite journal|author1=Jun A. Ebersole|author2=Dana J. Ehret|year=2018|title=A new species of Cretalamna sensu stricto (Lamniformes, Otodontidae) from the Late Cretaceous (Santonian-Campanian) of Alabama, USA|journal=PeerJ|volume=6|issue=e4229|pages=e4229|doi=10.7717/peerj.4229|pmc=5764036|pmid=29333348 |doi-access=free }}

There are certain dubious species of Otodontidae included species where teeth are not properly described, such as Otodus debrayi, Otodus stromeri, Otodus rondelettiformis, and Otodus hastalis. These dubious species are considered to be synonymus or are pending reassesment of their validity.{{Cite journal |title=Volume 1923 - Japan Chronicle Weekly Edition > Date 11 October 1923 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/2214-9627_jc-japanchronicle-1923-19231011 |access-date=2024-11-07 |website=Japan Chronicle Online|doi=10.1163/2214-9627_jc-japanchronicle-1923-19231011 |url-access=subscription }}{{Citation |last1=Mauriac Dyer |first1=Nathalie |title=f. 11, 11v, 12 |work=Marcel Proust, L’Agenda 1906 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.4000/books.editionsbnf.1469 |access-date=2024-11-07 |publisher=Éditions de la Bibliothèque nationale de France |isbn=978-2-7177-2694-7 |last2=Leriche |first2=Françoise |last3=Wise |first3=Pyra |last4=Fau |first4=Guillaume|date=2015 |doi=10.4000/books.editionsbnf.1469 }}