What genus contains the great white shark?

The genus containing the great white shark is Carcharodon.

The great white shark’s scientific name is Carcharodon carcharias: Carcharodon is the genus and carcharias is the species name. The genus is part of the mackerel-shark family Lamnidae, which also includes mako sharks, the porbeagle, and the salmon shark. The great white is the only living species currently placed in Carcharodon.

The name Carcharodon comes from Ancient Greek roots meaning “sharp” or “jagged” and “tooth,” an apt reference to the shark’s serrated cutting teeth. Carl Linnaeus originally described the species in 1758 as Squalus carcharias, but it was later moved into its own genus.

Fossil species have also been assigned to Carcharodon, including forms linked to the great white’s evolutionary history. This sometimes causes confusion with megalodon: despite older classifications, megalodon is generally placed in the separate genus Otodus and family Otodontidae. Rhincodon is the genus of the whale shark, while Sphyrna contains hammerheads and Galeocerdo contains the tiger shark.