15 research outputs found
Revision of the Cretaceous shark Protoxynotus (Chondrichthyes, Squaliformes) and early evolution of somniosid sharks
Due to the peculiar combination of dental features characteristic for different squaliform families, the position of the Late Cretaceous genera Protoxynotus and Paraphorosoides within Squaliformes has long been controversial. In this study, we revise these genera based on previously known fossil teeth and new dental material. The phylogenetic placement of Protoxynotus and Paraphorosoides among other extant and extinct squaliforms is discussed based on morphological characters combined with DNA sequence data of extant species. Our results suggest that Protoxynotus and Paraphorosoides should be included in the Somniosidae and that Paraphorosoides is a junior synonym of Protoxynotus. New dental material from the Campanian of Germany and the Maastrichtian of Austria enabled the description of a new species Protoxynotus mayrmelnhofi sp. nov. In addition, the evolution and origin of the characteristic squaliform tooth morphology are discussed, indicating that the elongated lower jaw teeth with erected cusp and distinct dignathic heterodonty of Protoxynotus represents a novel functional adaptation in its cutting-clutching type dentition among early squaliform sharks. Furthermore, the depositional environment of the tooth bearing horizons allows for an interpretation of the preferred habitat of this extinct dogfish shark, which exclusively occupied shelf environments of the Boreal- and northern Tethyan realms during the Late Cretaceous.publishedVersio
Shark fossil diversity (Squalomorphii, Squatinomorphii, and Galeomorphii) from the Langhian of Brielas (Lower Tagus Basin, Portugal)
The fossiliferous marine Miocene sediments of the Lower Tagus Basin (Portugal) present
a great diversity of Chondrichthyes forms. The current study focuses on the fossil
sharks from the Langhian Vc unit of the Brielas section, located in the SetĂșbal
Peninsula. A total of 384 isolated fossil teeth were analysed and ascribed to 17 species from the Orders Hexanchiformes, Squaliformes, Squatiniformes, Lamniformes,
and Carcharhiniformes. Centrophorus granulosus and Iago angustidens are described
for the first time in Portuguese sediments, whereas Pachyscyllium dachiardii and
Rhizoprionodon ficheuri represent only their second reported occurrence. Galeorhinus
goncalvesi was already known from the Portuguese uppermost Miocene (Alvalade
Basin), but it is now recognized in older sediments. Furthermore, the new material
seems to include the first reported occurrence of Hexanchus cf. agassizi in Miocene
sediments. As a whole, these new findings support the previous palaeoenvironment
characterization of a warm infralittoral setting gradually deepening to a circalittoral
one, where seasonal upwelling phenomena could have occurred
Review of the records of the smalltooth sand tiger shark, Odontaspis ferox (Elasmobranchii: Lamniformes: Odontaspididae), in the Azores
Background. This species is rare and captured only as bycatch in shallow waters. More detailed information on this species is critically needed in order to assess its conservation status and implement management guidelines. Bycatch statistics are crucial in this respect
Shifts in composition of northern Tethyan elasmobranch assemblages during the last millennia of the Cretaceous
International audienc
Comment on âAn early Miocene extinction in pelagic sharksâ
International audienceSibert and Rubin (Reports, 4 June 2021, p. 1105) claim to have identified a previously unidentified, major extinction event of open-ocean sharks in the early Miocene. We argue that their interpretations are based on an experimental design that does not account for a considerable rise in the sedimentation rate coinciding with the proposed event, nor for intraspecific variation in denticle morphology