A 2006 phylogenetic study by J. Andrés López and colleagues, based on four protein-coding gene sequences, found that this species did not group with the leopard shark (T. semifasciata).
In a 2006 phylogenetic analysis conducted by J. Andrés López and his team, using data from four protein-coding genes, this species was determined to be distinct from the leopard shark (T. semifasciata).