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[2] thought that the absence or presence of tooth serrations is not enough to place these sharks in different taxa.

O. auriculatus was a large lamniform shark, with the largest individuals reaching a body length of 9.5 metres (31 ft).

Fossil teeth have also been found in the United Kingdom and Kazakhstan, and the shark enjoyed a fairly global distribution.