<p>The hybodontiform shark-like <i>Strophodus</i> was a large durophagous predator with highly specialized crushing-type dentition that mainly inhabited Mesozoic marine environments for more than 130 million years, with a fossil record spanning from the Middle Triassic to the Lower Cretaceous. <i>Strophodus</i> was a geographically widespread taxon with 13 species reported from Africa, Asia, Europe, India and South America. Here, we describe a new species of <i>Strophodus</i>, which we name <i>Strophodus timoluebkei</i> sp. nov. based on three teeth from the same individual in semi-articulated position. The holotype was collected in the Prealpine Sulzfluh Limestone Formation (Middle Oxfordian to Late Tithonian), Central Switzerland. <i>Strophodus timoluebkei</i> sp. nov. currently is the only vertebrate species reported from this geological unit, and its presence suggests that this durophagous shark likely played an important role as predator of the invertebrate fauna in this ancient Tethyan tropical coastal ecosystem. The new discovery sheds additional light onto the hybodontiform paleodiversity during the Upper Jurassic.</p>

错误:搜索内容不能为空,请输入英文关键词
错误:关键词超出字数限制,请精简
高级检索

A new hybodontiform shark (Strophodus Agassiz, 1838) from the Upper Jurassic of Switzerland

  • Jorge D. Carrillo-Briceño,
  • Iwan Stössel,
  • René Kindlimann,
  • Christian Klug

摘要

The hybodontiform shark-like Strophodus was a large durophagous predator with highly specialized crushing-type dentition that mainly inhabited Mesozoic marine environments for more than 130 million years, with a fossil record spanning from the Middle Triassic to the Lower Cretaceous. Strophodus was a geographically widespread taxon with 13 species reported from Africa, Asia, Europe, India and South America. Here, we describe a new species of Strophodus, which we name Strophodus timoluebkei sp. nov. based on three teeth from the same individual in semi-articulated position. The holotype was collected in the Prealpine Sulzfluh Limestone Formation (Middle Oxfordian to Late Tithonian), Central Switzerland. Strophodus timoluebkei sp. nov. currently is the only vertebrate species reported from this geological unit, and its presence suggests that this durophagous shark likely played an important role as predator of the invertebrate fauna in this ancient Tethyan tropical coastal ecosystem. The new discovery sheds additional light onto the hybodontiform paleodiversity during the Upper Jurassic.