 Whether the bigeye and smalltooth sand tigers belong in the same family as the superficially similar sand tiger shark ("C. taurus") has been debated among systematists, with morphological and dentitional studies giving inconsistent results.A 2012 molecular phylogenetic analysis, based on mitochondrial DNA, supported a sister species relationship between "O. noronhai" and "O. ferox" but not a clade consisting of "Odontaspis" and "Carcharias".Instead, "Odontaspis" was found to be closer to the crocodile shark ("Pseudocarcharias kamoharai"), suggesting that it and "Carcharias" should be placed in separate families.