Carcharocles sp.

Cicimurri, David J. & Knight, James L., 2009, Late Oligocene sharks and rays from the Chandler Bridge Formation, Dorchester County, South Carolina, USA, Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 54 (4), pp. 627-647 : 631

Carcharocles sp.

Fig. 4E .

Referred specimens.—BCGM 9055, SC 2009.18.5.

Comments.— Ward and Bonavia (2001) commented on species concepts (i.e., biological, morphological, chronological) with regard to Carcharocles Jordan and Hannibal, 1923 . Based solely on morphology, our tooth compares favorably to Miocene C. subauriculatus (Agassiz, 1839) . Reinecke et al. (2005) considered Oligocene C. angustidens (Agassiz, 1843) and Miocene C. subauriculatus as chronospecies. Purdy et al. (2001) noted that lateral cusplets of C. subauriculatus are not differentiated from the main cusp by a deep notch as in teeth referred to C. angustidens (also Marsili et al. 2007). Carcharocles angustidens has been identified from numerous Oligocene deposits worldwide (i.e., Uyeno et al. 1984; Génault 1993; Baut and Génault 1999; Gottfried and Fordyce 2001; Reinecke et al. 2001, 2005). Interestingly, Purdy et al. (2001) identified teeth from the Chandler Bridge Formation as C. subauriculatus , and some of the teeth identified as C. angustidens by Uyeno et al. (1984: pl. 3: 2, 3) are similar to C. subauriculatus . Perhaps Oligocene C. subauriculatus −like teeth represent the first occurrence of a distinct species, or represent variation within C. angustidens .

Figures

Fig. 4. Lamniform sharks from Summerville, upper Chattian. A, B. Alopias cf. A. vulpinus (Bonnaterre, 1788). A. BCGM 9047, anterior tooth, labial view. B. BCGM 9048, lateral tooth, labial view. C. Carcharias sp., BCGM 9054, labial view. D. Carcharias cuspidatus (Agassiz, 1843), BCGM 9052, lower lateral tooth, labial view. E. Carcharocles sp., BCGM 9055, labial view.