Eocene sand tiger sharks (Lamniformes, Odontaspididae) from the Bolca Konservat- Lagerstätte, Italy
- Author(s)
- Giuseppe Marrama, Andrea Engelbrecht, Giorgio Carnevale, Jürgen Kriwet
- Abstract
Here we report the first record of one of the most common and widespread Palaeogene selachians, the sand tiger shark Brachycarcharias, from the Ypresian Bolca Konservat-Lagerstatte. The combination of dental character of the 15 isolated teeth collected from the Pesciara and Monte Postale sites (e.g. anterior teeth up to 25 mm with fairly low triangular cusp decreasing regularly in width; one to two pairs of well-developed lateral cusplets; root with broadly separated lobes; upper teeth with a cusp bent distally) supports their assignment to the odontaspidid Brachycarcharias lerichei (Casier, 1946), a species widely spread across the North Hemisphere during the early Palaeogene. The unambiguous first report of this lamniform shark in the Eocene Bolca Konservat-Lagerstatte improves our knowledge concerning the diversity and palaeobiology of the cartilaginous fishes of this palaeontological site, and provides new insights about the biotic turnovers that involved the high trophic levels of the marine settings after the end-Cretaceous extinction.
- Organisation(s)
- Department of Palaeontology
- External organisation(s)
- University of Turin
- Journal
- Historical Biology
- Volume
- 31
- Pages
- 102-116
- No. of pages
- 15
- ISSN
- 0891-2963
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1080/08912963.2017.1341503
- Publication date
- 01-2019
- Peer reviewed
- Yes
- Austrian Fields of Science 2012
- 106043 Systematic zoology, 105118 Palaeontology
- Keywords
- ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Agricultural and Biological Sciences
- Portal url
- https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/en/publications/d514fa8d-4a0e-4e74-af99-950c9ff09621