Local extinction of sharks of genus Carcharias Rafinesque, 1810 (Elasmobranchii, Odontaspididae) in the eastern Pacific Ocean

Abstract

Fossil record has shown that the genus Carcharias and probably species C. taurus Rafinesque, 1810 occupied the western coast of South America during the Miocene and part of the Pliocene. The genus is absent in the area today. It is suggested that its local extinction was the consequence of a drop of global temperatures during the middle Pliocene and Pleistocene and the coeval lowering of sea level that shrinked the area of distribution to the northern areas and provoked the disappearance of suitable environments when the shelf area became extremely reduced. After approximately 3 Ma it would have not been possible for the species to migrate from the north to the region due to the establishment of the Panamanian isthmus.