The Neogene fossil record of Aetomylaeus (Elasmobranchii, Myliobatidae) from the south-eastern Pacific
- Author(s)
- Jaime A. Villafaña, Giuseppe Marrama, Sebastian Hernandez, Jorge Carillo-Briceño, Dirk Hovestadt, René Kindlimann, Jürgen Kriwet
- Abstract
The presence of eagle rays of the genus Aetomylaeus in the Neogene of the Temperate Pacific coast of South America (TPSA) still is ambiguous, although the fossil record of elasmobranch fishes (sharks, rays, and skates) from this area is quite good. Here, we present the first unmistakable fossil remains of Aetomylaeus from the Neogene of the TPSA. The material comprises 13 dental plates from one site in Peru and six localities in Chile ranging in age from Miocene to Pliocene and was compared with dental plates of extant species. Our study reveals that the number of tooth rows and the shape of lateral teeth in extant species are seemingly very variable and need to be established before fossil specimens can be confidently identified. Consequently, we do not assign the fossil specimens from the Neogene of the TPSA to any species but leave them as Aetomylaeus. Moreover, we recognized that only the shape of medial teeth provides reliable diagnostic characters in our material, whereas the shape and number of lateral teeth are highly variable, similar to the condition seen in extant species.
- Organisation(s)
- Department of Palaeontology
- External organisation(s)
- Universidad Veritas, University of Vienna, Universität Zürich (UZH), Independent researcher, Independent researcher
- Journal
- Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology
- Volume
- 39
- No. of pages
- 11
- ISSN
- 0272-4634
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1080/02724634.2019.1577251
- Publication date
- 04-2019
- Peer reviewed
- Yes
- Austrian Fields of Science 2012
- 106003 Biodiversity research, 105118 Palaeontology
- Keywords
- ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Palaeontology
- Portal url
- https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/en/publications/2b892844-6d2d-43c9-bc1b-304fd99585f6