Otodus auriculatus

Otodus auriculatus is an extinct species of large sharks in the genus "Otodus" of the family Otodontidae, closely related to the sharks of the genus "Otodus", and also closely related to the later species megalodon. Its teeth were large, having coarse serrations on the cutting edge, and also with two large cusplets. The teeth can reach up to , and belonged to a large "megatoothed" shark.
Assignment to the genus "Carcharocles" rather than "Otodus".
It is known that there is at least one genus in the family Otodontidae, that being "Otodus". But the names and number of the genera in Otodontidae is controversial and the family's accepted phylogeny varies among paleontologists in different parts of the world. In the US and Britain the most widespread genus name for otodontids with serrated teeth is "Carcharocles", and the owners of unserrated ones "Otodus". In countries of the former USSR, like Ukraine or Russia, all of these genera were attributed to "Otodus", because scientists like Zhelezko and Kozlov thought that the absence or presence of tooth serrations is not enough to place these sharks in different taxa.
Size.
The tooth length of "O. auriculatus" is relatively large - from . However, it is smaller than that of megalodon and "Otodus angustidens"; the tooth length of "O. megalodon" is and "O. angustidens" .
Distribution.
Most "O. auriculatus" teeth come from South Carolina and North Carolina. However, many Eocene shark teeth are known from Khouribga Plateau, in Morocco. Fossil teeth have also been found in the United Kingdom and Kazakhstan, and the shark enjoyed a fairly global distribution. 