Named By: | JeaninPierre Sylvestre de Grateloup in 1840 |
Time Period: | Oligocene-Miocene |
Location: | Across Europe and North America, possibly also Japan |
Size: | Uncertain, multiple species are named, but remains can be very fragmentary |
Diet: | Carnivore |
Fossil(s): | Multiple individuals, but often of very incomplete remains |
Classification: | | Chordata | Mammalia | Cetacea | Platanistoidea | Squalodontidae | |
Squalodon is an extinct genus of whales endemic to Oligocene to Miocene, belonging to the family Squalodontidae. Named by Jean-Pierre Sylvestre de Grateloup in 1840, it was originally believed to be an iguanodontid dinosaur but has since been reclassified. The name Squalodon comes from Squalus, a genus of shark. As a result, its name means "shark tooth."