Tiger sharks
| Tiger shark Temporal range: 56–0 Ma Early Eocene to Present |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Chondrichthyes |
| Subclass: | Elasmobranchii |
| Superorder: | Selachimorpha |
| Order: | Carcharhiniformes |
| Family: | Carcharhinidae |
| Genus: |
Galeocerdo J. P. Müller & Henle, 1837 |
| Species: | G. cuvier |
| Binomial name | |
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Galeocerdo cuvier Péron & Lesueur, 1822 |
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| Tiger shark range | |
| Synonyms | |
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Squalus cuvierPeron and Lesueur, 1822 |
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Squalus cuvierPeron and Lesueur, 1822
Galeocerdo tigrinus Müller and Henle, 1837
The tiger shark (Galeocerdo cuvier) is a species of requiem shark and the only extant member of the genus Galeocerdo. Commonly known as the "Sea Tiger", the tiger shark is a relatively large macropredator, capable of attaining a length over 5 m (16 ft 5 in). It is found in many tropical and temperate waters, and it is especially common around central Pacific islands. Its name derives from the dark stripes down its body which resemble a tiger's pattern, which fade as the shark matures.
The tiger shark is a solitary, mostly nocturnal hunter, and is notable for having the widest food spectrum of all sharks, consuming a variety of prey ranging from crustaceans, fish, seals, birds, squid, turtles, and sea snakes to dolphins and even other smaller sharks. The tiger shark has been known to eat inedible, man-made objects that linger in its stomach, and it has a reputation as a "garbage eater". While the tiger shark sits atop the food chain as an apex predator, killer whales have been known on occasion to prey on them. The tiger shark is considered a near threatened species due to finning and fishing by humans.
The shark was first described by Peron and Lesueur in 1822, and was given the name Squalus cuvier.Müller and Henle in 1837 renamed it Galeocerdo tigrinus. The genus, Galeocerdo, is derived from the Greek galeos, which means shark, and the Latin cerdus, the word for the hard hairs of pigs. It is often colloquially called the man-eater shark.
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