Isurus
| Isurus | |
|---|---|
| |
| Shortfin mako shark (I. oxyrinchus) | |
| |
| Longfin mako shark (I. paucus) | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Chondrichthyes |
| Subclass: | Elasmobranchii |
| Subdivision: | Selachimorpha |
| Order: | Lamniformes |
| Family: | Lamnidae |
| Genus: | Isurus Rafinesque, 1810 |
| Type species | |
| Isurus oxyrinchus Rafinesque, 1810
| |
| Synonyms | |
| |
Isurus is a genus of mackerel sharks in the family Lamnidae, commonly known as the mako sharks.
Description
The two living species are the common shortfin mako shark (I. oxyrinchus) and the rare longfin mako shark (I. paucus). They range in length from 2.5 to 4.5 m (8.2 to 14.8 ft), and have an approximate maximum weight of 680 kg (1,500 lb). They both have a distinctive blue-gray color scheme common among mackerel sharks.
Several extinct species are known from fossils found in sediments from Cretaceous to Quaternary (age range: 99.7 to 0.781 million years ago).[1]
The family Lamnidae also includes the great white shark and the porbeagle. Mako sharks are capable of swimming at speeds up to 96 km/h (60 mph) with a cruising speed of 56 km/h (35 mph), and jumping up to 3 m (9.8 ft) into the air, but they are believed to jump up to 7 m (23 ft). The great white shark is also closely related to an ancient mako shark, Isurus hastalis. However, fossil evidence suggests I. hastalis belonged to the genus Carcharodon.[3]
Species
The genus contains these species:[1]
- Isurus oxyrinchus (Rafinesque, 1810) (shortfin mako)[4]
- Isurus paucus (Guitart-Manday, 1966) (longfin mako)[5]
- †Isurus desori (Agassiz, 1843)
- †Isurus escheri Agassiz 1843
- †Isurus flandricus (Leriche, 1910)
- †Isurus minutus (Agassiz, 1843)
- †Isurus nakaminatoensis (Saito, 1961)
- †Isurus planus (Agassiz, 1856)
- †Isurus praecursor (Leriche, 1905)
- †Isurus rameshi (Mehrotra, Mishra & Srivastava, 1973)
- †Isurus spallanzani Rafinesque 1810
See also
References
- ^ a b c Fossilworks
- ^ Sepkoski, Jack (2002). "A compendium of fossil marine animal genera (Chondrichthyes entry)". Bulletins of American Paleontology. 364: 560. Archived from the original on 2011-09-30.
- ^ Ehret, Dana J.; MacFadden, Bruce J.; Jones, Douglas S.; Devries, Thomas J.; Foster, David A.; Salas-Gismondi, Rodolfo (2012). "Origin of the white shark Carcharodon (Lamniformes: Lamnidae) based on recalibration of the Upper Neogene Pisco Formation of Peru". Palaeontology. 55 (6): 1139–1153. doi:10.1111/j.1475-4983.2012.01201.x.
- ^ Smith, J.L.B. Sharks of the Genus Isurus Rafinesque, 1810. Ichthyological Bulletin; No. 6. Department of Ichthyology, Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa
- ^ Tony Ayling & Geoffrey Cox, Collins Guide to the Sea Fishes of New Zealand, William Collins Publishers Ltd, Auckland, New Zealand 1982 ISBN 0-00-216987-8