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First fossil finds show shark species swam in NZ waters millions of years ago

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New Zealand
General Wesc, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Note that the fossils pictured are not from the study below.
General Wesc, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Note that the fossils pictured are not from the study below.

Two extinct shark species related to Great Whites have been identified for the first time in New Zealand, from fossils estimated to date back to the Miocene Epoch around 20 to 5 million years ago. One tooth from Carcharodon hubbelli was found at Motunau Beach, North Canterbury, and teeth from Carcharodon planus were found at Kakahu River, South Canterbury and Big River mouth in the Tasman District. The authors say that these finds show that the seas around New Zealand had a more diverse range of apex-predators than was previously recorded.

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Journal/
conference: Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand
Research:Paper
Organisation/s: Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, University of Otago
Funder: na
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