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ABSTRACT
Carcharocles auriculatus de Blainville, 1818 (1) is uncommon in Eocene (2) and Oligocene-aged marine vertebrate faunas of the Gulf and Atlantic coasts (3). Carchrocles auriculatus has been reported from the Oligocene of Mississippi (Lesueur 1828) in (3) and Florida (4), but has not been previously documented in the Oligocene of Georgia. A single tooth of C. auriculatus was recovered in situ from the lower Oligocene Bridgeboro Formation in Grady County, Georgia. The Bridgeboro is a calcareous algal nodule-rich limestone unit interpreted as a shallow water deposit. Primarily, C. auriculatus is found in littoral siliclastic or mixed siliclasticcarbonate sediments. These teeth, generally, show abrasion due to transport. Specimens collected in 'pure' carbonates may represent normal tooth loss, and have not been reworked. The dimensions (h/w ratio) from the Georgia Oligocene tooth correspond well with h/w ratios of Oligocene teeth from Mississippi and the Eocene teeth from Georgia, Mississippi, and South Carolina referred to in this study.
Key words: Carcharocles, sharks teeth, Eocene-Oligocene, Bridgeboro Formation
INTRODUCTION
Sharks belonging to the genus Carcharocles were some of the most formidable predators that ever stalked the coastal waters of Georgia. Carcharocles auriculatus de Blainville, 1818 (1) has also been referred to as Carcharodon auriculatus (5). The best-known member of the genus is the "megatooth" shark Carcharocles megalodon, estimated to have reached 15m in length (6). Likewise this species has been previously placed in the genus Carcharodon. The large teeth of this Miocene-Pliocene predator, which can reach lengths approaching...