All You Need To Know About Prehistoric Mako Shark

Posted by james luthor on November 19th, 2019

The Mako shark was an eminent shark species in prehistoric times. Known for its unique characteristics and features, it is studied by research scholars and professors. The prehistoric Mako shark had an impressive speed of 31 MPH that is approximately 6 times more than the speed of an Olympic swimmer. It had different characteristics that can be studied through their fossils. If you are planning to make a research project on the Mako shark, you should have some information about its features.

Here are some of the things you should know about the shark before you study its fossils:

 Nomenclature

To begin with, you should know about the nomenclature that is the naming process of the Mako shark. There are two types of mako sharks namely Isurus Paucus (Longfin Mako) and Isurus Oxyrynchus (Shortfin Mako). The names of both the sharks have been derived from Greek and Latin. While Isurus stands for an “equal tail”, Paucus stands for “few”. These words help us trace the origins of these sharks and help us create parallels with the prehistoric times and present terminologies.

Age

As per their order of appearance in history, the Mako shark is known to be from Palocene till recent. This can be better understood when you know that while Isurus originated in the Paleocene, it branched off to different types of Mako sharks and White sharks by the Miocene. This segregation of the family of the fishes in the later period may be due to a change in their features and geographical distributions. Look at different aspects of their growth when studying these methods.

Taxonomy

The next thing you should focus your research on is the taxonomy of this shark. The Maco shark belongs to the order Lamniformes from where it is further classified. As mentioned before, it comes from the species of Isurus Paucus (Longfin Mako) and Isurus Oxyrynchus (Shortfin Mako). Besides, the Mako shark is known to be of the genus “Isurus” and belongs to the family of Lamnidae. If needed, you can seek more information about the detailed processes and taxonomy.

Distribution

Lastly, you should gather information about the distribution of Mako shark both in prehistoric times and present. According to the existing data on the Mako sharks, it is estimated that they are distributed across the globe. Some of the key details used in their distribution include offshore tropical and temperate waters, and semitropical and tropical waters. Even though the Longfin Mako is rarely found, it is distributed in some of the other areas.

If you wish to buy a fossil of prehistoric Mako shark for your study, you should visit the websites of various fossil retailers.

Author’s Bio- The author is an avid writer. This article is about prehistoric Mako shark.