Knowra Lamniformes Lamniformes Lamniformes is an order of sharks that includes great whites, makos, basking sharks, and megamouth sharks. Its living members range from active predators to filter feeders.
Lamnidae : A family of fast-swimming predatory sharks that includes great whites, makos, and porbeagles. This family contains the best-known active predators among living lamniform sharks.
Great white shark : A large predatory shark found in coastal and offshore waters worldwide. It is the best-known member of the lamniform family Lamnidae.
Cretaceous : The geological period from about 145 to 66 million years ago, ending with a mass extinction. Lamniform fossils document the order’s diversity during this period.
Carcharhiniformes : The largest shark order, including requiem sharks, catsharks, and hammerheads. Its diverse living families are often distinguished from lamniforms by eye membranes and other anatomical traits.
Cetorhinidae : A family of filter-feeding sharks represented today by the basking shark. Its sole living species shows how lamniforms include enormous plankton feeders.
Shortfin mako shark : A fast, open-ocean shark known for long-distance movements and pursuit of prey. Its speed illustrates the active-predator lifestyle of many lamniforms.
Otodus megalodon : An extinct giant shark known from enormous fossil teeth and vertebrae. Its placement among lamniforms links the order to one of the largest predatory fish known.
Orectolobiformes : An order of bottom-associated sharks that includes whale sharks and wobbegongs. It includes another giant filter feeder, but whale sharks belong outside Lamniformes.
Megachasmidae : A shark family represented by the megamouth shark, a large filter feeder. The megamouth belongs to a separate filter-feeding lineage within the order.
Basking shark : A huge, slow-moving shark that filters plankton from seawater while swimming. It is a living lamniform with a feeding strategy unlike that of makos and great whites.
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