First record of an Early Cretaceous shark (Chondrichthyes, Neoselachii) from Antarctica

• Published in: Antarctic Science
• Main Author: KRIWET, JÜRGEN
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 2003
• Subjects: Alexander Island; Antarc*; Antarctic; Antarctic Peninsula; Antarctic Science; Antarctica
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0954102003001627; https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0954102003001627

A shark tooth from the Spartan Glacier Formation of the Fossil Bluff Group of Alexander Island, Antarctic Peninsula is described and assigned to Palaeospinacidae, an extinct group of neoselachian sharks. This tooth was previously supposed to have been recovered from Middle Jurassic strata and to belong to Hybodus . However, sedimentation of the Spartan Glacier Formation was from the Valangian to Aptian. Consequently, an Early Cretaceous age is assigned to the specimen although its exact stratigraphical horizon is unknown. A generic assignment, however, is not possible although it may belong to Paraorthacodus . This specimen represents the first record of a neoselachian from the Early Cretaceous of Antarctica.