Question 1

How do you say Squalicorax?

Accepted Answer

Squalicorax is pronounced SKWAL-ee-KOR-aks. Break it into four parts: SKWAL, then ee, then KOR, then aks. The trickiest part is the start, which sounds like the word squall as in a sudden storm. Say it a few times fast and it starts to feel pretty natural. The stress lands on the first and third syllables.

Question 2

What does Squalicorax mean?

Accepted Answer

Squalicorax means crow shark. The name combines the Latin word squalus, meaning shark, with the Greek word korax, meaning crow or raven. The crow reference almost certainly points to its scavenging behavior, since crows are famous for feeding on carcasses. Swiss-American naturalist Louis Agassiz gave it this name back in 1843, and the crow comparison turned out to be remarkably accurate once fossil evidence confirmed its scavenging habits.

Question 3

Did Squalicorax actually eat dinosaurs?

Accepted Answer

There is real fossil evidence that Squalicorax fed on dinosaurs, yes. Teeth from Squalicorax were found embedded in the leg bone of an Edmontosaurus, a large duck-billed dinosaur, recovered from Cretaceous deposits in Kansas. One of those bite marks showed signs of healing in the bone, meaning the dinosaur survived at least one shark bite. Scientists believe the shark either attacked a dinosaur wading in shallow water or scavenged on a carcass that had floated out to sea.

Question 4

How big was Squalicorax?

Accepted Answer

Squalicorax is estimated to have grown to around 5 meters in length, which is roughly 16 feet. That makes it comparable in size to a large modern bull shark or a small great white. Some larger specimens suggest certain individuals may have pushed toward 6 meters. It was a serious predator in the shallow inland seas of the Cretaceous, though it shared the water with much larger hunters like the mosasaur.

Question 5

When did Squalicorax live?

Accepted Answer

Squalicorax first appeared in the fossil record around 161 million years ago and survived until approximately 62 million years ago. That means it lived through the Late Jurassic and most of the Cretaceous period. Remarkably, it persisted right through the mass extinction event that wiped out the non-avian dinosaurs 66 million years ago, only disappearing a few million years after that catastrophic event.

Question 6

Where did Squalicorax live?

Accepted Answer

Squalicorax had one of the widest geographic ranges of any Cretaceous shark. Its fossils have been found in the United States, Mexico, Egypt, Sweden, France, Spain, and Israel. In North America, it was especially common in the Western Interior Seaway, a shallow inland sea that once split the continent in two from the Gulf of Mexico all the way to the Arctic. Its global distribution suggests it thrived in warm, shallow tropical and subtropical seas worldwide.

Question 7

Is Squalicorax related to the great white shark?

Accepted Answer

Squalicorax and the great white shark are both members of the order Lamniformes, which is one of the oldest and most successful shark lineages in Earth's history. However, Squalicorax belonged to a separate and now extinct family called Anacoracidae, so it is more like a cousin than a direct ancestor. The two sharks developed very similar serrated, blade-like teeth independently, which is a fascinating example of evolution producing similar solutions to similar problems.

Question 8

Why do scientists call it a wastebasket taxon?

Accepted Answer

Scientists use the term wastebasket taxon when a single genus or species name ends up being used as a catch-all bucket for fossils that look similar but might actually belong to different animals. Squalicorax teeth from Europe, North America, and Africa look so alike that researchers sometimes lump them all together under one name. This makes the genus look even more widespread than it might truly be, and future studies using detailed microscopic analysis may eventually split Squalicorax into several separate species.

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