A new genus and species of petalodont (petal-toothed) shark has been identified from fossilized teeth found in cave passages of Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky, the United States.
The newly-identified shark species lived in the seas of the Carboniferous period, approximately 337 million years ago.
It belongs to Petalodontiformes, an extinct order of cartilaginous fishes related to modern-day chimaera.
Named Strigilodus tollesonae, it lived like a modern skate, feeding on snails, bivalves, soft bodied worms, and smaller fish.
“Strigilodus tollesonae was a type of extinct shark that is more closely related to modern ratfish than to other modern sharks and rays,” said John-Paul Hodnett, a paleontologist with the National Park Service and Maryland-National Capitol Parks and Planning Commission, and his colleagues.
The researchers found the isolated spoon-like teeth of Strigilodus tollesonae in the Ste. Genevieve Formation rock layer at Mammoth Cave National Park.
The specimens represent all known tooth positions in the mouth of both adult and juveniles of the new species.
The teeth were arranged in a fan-like structure with a large tooth in the middle and three other teeth, decreasing size, next to it.
Each tooth had a single rounded curved cusp for clipping and grasping hard shell prey, while the inner/tongue side of the tooth was long with ridges for crushing.
“We are excited to finally announce the discovery of our first new shark species at Mammoth Cave,” said Barclay Trimble, the superintendent of Mammoth Cave.
“Teams of geologists, paleontologist, park staff, and volunteers have been hard at work deep inside the cave identifying and collecting fossils since the paleontological resources inventory began in 2019.”
“Their important research allows us to better understand the scope, significance, distribution, and management issues associated with the fossil record found within Mammoth Cave.”
The discovery is reported in a paper in the…
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