A review of the Mesozoic Record of the Carcharhiniformes

Although the Carcharhiniformes represent one of the most diverse and important groups of sharks alive today, their early history is very poorly known. Reinterpretation of previously figured Jurassic and Cretaceous fossils, along with collection of new specimens from the Cretaceous of the British Isles, has allowed the early record of this order to be reinterpreted. Whereas members of only one carcharhiniform family have been previously recorded from the Jurassic, and two from the Cretaceous, it is considered here that fossils of two families are known from Jurassic rocks, and at least five families from the Cretaceous. The relative timing of familial appearances is consistent with the predictions derived from cladistic analyses, although some of the cladogenic events can now be shown to have been earlier than previously recognised.