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).
A 2006 phylogenetic study by J. Andrés López and his team, using data from four protein-coding genes, determined that this species was separate from the leopard shark (T. semifasciata) based on evolutionary relationships.