1. Sharks are globally exposed to several anthropogenic threats, which, in many cases, have severely reduced their distribution and have impacted populations. In the Mediterranean Sea, because of its long history of exploitation and the relatively short span of scientific monitoring, reconstructing shark baselines is challenging. Many vulnerable species declined in population abundance and geographic distribution before it was possible to adequately track these changes. Consequently, for many of these species, current conservation assessments are now suffering from a severe case of shifting baseline syndrome, whereby their historical occurrence in the area is questioned.
2. The sand tiger shark (Carcharias taurus) is one of these cases. Characterized by high philopatry, restricted home range, and low interchange between populations, its Mediterranean population may have been severely impacted by the high historical fishing pressure in the region before scientific monitoring began.
3. In this study, the history of the abundance and distribution of C. taurus in the Mediterranean Sea was reconstructed through a comprehensive search of occurrence records in the literature and in museum collections. Between 1810 and 2008, 31 occurrence records and 54 publications provided information on the presence of the species in the area. These records were sparse but systematic over time and indicated occurrence hot spots in the south‐western Mediterranean Sea and in the eastern Adriatic Sea.
4. The presence of ten sightings of juveniles from a total of 18 sightings with length information suggested local parturition. Habitat and extinction models indicate that the area has suitable oceanographic conditions for the occurrence of the species and that the species cannot be considered extinct in the Mediterranean Sea. Our study suggests that there is still hope for the recovery of the species and underlines the crucial role of historical investigations to reconstruct the history of large elasmobranchs in the Mediterranean Sea.

中文翻译：

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重建地中海沙虎鲨（Carcharias taurus）的历史

1. 鲨鱼在全球范围内受到几种人为威胁的威胁，在许多情况下，它们已严重减少了其分布并影响了种群。在地中海，由于其悠久的开采历史和相对较短的科学监测时间，重建鲨鱼基线具有挑战性。在有可能充分追踪这些变化之前，许多脆弱物种的种群数量和地理分布都在下降。因此，对于这些物种中的许多物种，当前的保护评估现在正遭受基线综合症转移的严重影响，因此对该地区的历史发生情况提出了质疑。
2. 沙虎鲨（Carcharias taurus）就是其中一种。由于地中海地区人口高灭，居所范围有限和种群之间的互换性低，在开始科学监测之前，该地区的历史捕鱼压力可能严重影响了地中海种群。
3. 在这项研究中，通过全面检索文献和博物馆藏品中的发生记录，重建了地中海金牛角藻的丰富和分布历史。在1810年到2008年之间，有31个发生记录和54个出版物提供了该地区该物种的存在信息。这些记录是稀疏的，但随着时间的流逝，它们是系统的，并指示了西南地中海和亚得里亚海东部出现的热点。
4. 从总共18个目击事件中发现了10个少年事件，并带有长度信息，这表明存在局部分娩。栖息地和物种灭绝模型表明，该地区具有适合该物种出现的海洋学条件，并且该物种在地中海中不认为已灭绝。我们的研究表明，人们对该物种的恢复仍然抱有希望，并强调了历史调查对于重建地中海大型弹性支流史的关键作用。