 The presence of these fossils indicates that the range of the tawny nurse shark once extended to the tropical Atlantic Ocean, prior to the formation of the Isthmus of Panama.An inshore species, the tawny nurse shark inhabits continental and insular shelves over sandy flats or beds of seagrass, as well as along the outer edges of coral or rocky reefs.This shark may be found from the surf zone, often in water barely deep enough to cover its body, to a maximum depth of on coral reefs; it is most common at a depth of .