<P> The great white shark was one of the many amphibia originally described by Linnaeus in the landmark 1758 10th edition of his Systema Naturae, its first scientific name, Squalus carcharias . Later, Sir Andrew Smith gave it Carcharodon as its generic name in 1833, and also in 1873 . The generic name was identified with Linnaeus' specific name and the current scientific name, Carcharodon carcharias, was finalized . Carcharodon comes from the Ancient Greek words karcharos, which means sharp or jagged, and odous, which means tooth . </P> <P> The great white shark came into existence during the mid-Miocene epoch . The earliest known fossils of the great white shark are about 16 million years old . However, the phylogeny of the great white is still in dispute . The original hypothesis for the great white's origins is that it shares a common ancestor with a prehistoric shark, such as the C. megalodon. C. megalodon had teeth that were superficially not too dissimilar with those of great white sharks, but its teeth were far larger . Although cartilaginous skeletons do not fossilize, C. megalodon is estimated to have been considerably larger than the great white shark, estimated at up to 17 m (56 ft) and 59,413 kg (130,983 lb). Similarities among the physical remains and the extreme size of both the great white and C. megalodon led many scientists to believe these sharks were closely related, and the name Carcharodon megalodon was applied to the latter . However, a new hypothesis proposes that the C. megalodon and the great white are distant relatives (albeit sharing the family Lamnidae). The great white is also more closely related to an ancient mako shark, Isurus hastalis, than to the C. megalodon, a theory that seems to be supported with the discovery of a complete set of jaws with 222 teeth and 45 vertebrae of the extinct transitional species Carcharodon hubbelli in 1988 and published on 14 November 2012 . In addition, the new hypothesis assigns C. megalodon to the genus Carcharocles, which also comprises the other megatoothed sharks; Otodus obliquus is the ancient representative of the extinct Carcharocles lineage . </P> <P> Great white sharks live in almost all coastal and offshore waters which have water temperature between 12 and 24 ° C (54 and 75 ° F), with greater concentrations in the United States (Northeast and California), South Africa, Japan, Oceania, Chile, and the Mediterranean including Sea of Marmara and Bosphorus . One of the densest known populations is found around Dyer Island, South Africa . </P> <P> The great white is an epipelagic fish, observed mostly in the presence of rich game, such as fur seals (Arctocephalus ssp .), sea lions, cetaceans, other sharks, and large bony fish species . In the open ocean, it has been recorded at depths as great as 1,200 m (3,900 ft). These findings challenge the traditional notion that the great white is a coastal species . </P>

How did the great white get its name