Squalicorax baharijensis ( Stromer, 1927 )

Vullo, Romain, Cappetta, Henri & Néraudeau, Didier, 2007, New sharks and rays from the Cenomanian and Turonian of Charentes, France, Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 52 (1), pp. 99-116 : 105

Squalicorax baharijensis ( Stromer, 1927)

Fig. 2D .

1927 Corax baharijensis Stromer, 1927: 5 , pl. 1: 25–27.

1969 Squalicorax kaupi ; Bilelo 1969: 342, text−fig. 2l–o (?p,?q).

1974 Squalicorax baharijensis ; Slaughter and Thurmond 1974: 32, figs. 2b, c.

1974 Squalicorax curvatus ; Meyer 1974: 298, 300, text−fig. 89.

1989 Squalicorax baharijensis ; Werner 1989: 35, text−fig. 13, pl. 14: 1–9, pl. 15: 1–3.

1993 Squalicorax curvatus ; Welton and Farish 1993: 116, figs. 1, 2, and 4 (?fig. 3).

1999 Squalicorax baharijensis ; Cappetta and Case 1999: 12, pl. 3: 6–9.

2001 Squalicorax baharijensis ; Case 2001: 106, pl. 2: 3.

2002 Squalicorax baharijensis ; Bernardez 2002: 279, pls. 42, 43. Unpublished PhD.

Material.—Four teeth from Le Puits des Insurgés, Madame Island, l’Amas, Roullet–Saint−Estèphe and Le Mas, La Couronne (UM LMS 1), Upper Cenomanian C4−D; a few teeth from Les Renardières, Tonnay−Charente, Lower Cenomanian B1.

Description.—The most characteristic tooth corresponds to an anterior element and is 15.7 mm high (UM LMS 1; Fig. 2D ). It is higher than wide, with a crown that is narrow and sharp. The mesial cutting edge shows a regular and distinct convexity, while the distal one is completely straight. The distal notch and heel are well developed. The cutting edges are finely serrated. The root is rather thick, with the distal lobe more developed than the mesial one and a deep basal notch.

Remarks.—This rather large species of Squalicorax , restricted to the Cenomanian, displays a broad geographical distribution. It occurs in Egypt ( Werner 1989), in North America (Texas, Minnesota) ( Cappetta and Case 1999; Case 2001) and in Europe, where it has been recently described from Spain ( Bernardez 2002). Its discovery in Charentes is thus not surprising. This species was not recognized by Landemaine (1991) among the Squalicorax teeth from the Lower Cenomanian of Les Renardières, all assigned (without illustrations) by this author to S. falcatus . Cappetta and Case (1999) and Antunes and Cappetta (2002) noted that the status of the species S. falcatus is poorly defined, and Landemaine’s assignment thus remains doubtful. However, we collected a few teeth that might correspond to S. baharijensis . It is interesting to note that S. baharijensis is always accompanied by “ Carcharias ” amonensis ( Cappetta and Case, 1975), an abundant species occurring in all the Cenomanian localities studied in Charentes ( Landemaine 1991; Vullo et al. 2003, 2005; Vullo 2005; Table 1). This association is characteristic of the peri−Tethyan and North American Cenomanian shallow water deposits.

Figures

Fig. 2. Teeth of the hemiscylliid Almascyllium Cappetta, 1980a, the ginglymostomatid Cantioscyllium Woodward, 1889, the cretoxyrhinid Archaeolamna Siverson, 1992 and the anacoracid Squalicorax Whitley, 1939 from the Cenomanian and Turonian of Charentes, SW France. A. Almascyllium sp., Font−de−Benon, Lower Cenomanian; labial view of UM FBN 1. B. Cantioscyllium cf. decipiens Woodward, 1889, l’Amas, Upper Cenomanian; labial (B1), and occlusal (B2) views of UM AMA 1. C. Archaeolamna sp., l’Amas, Upper Cenomanian; labial (C1), and lingual (C2) views of UM AMA 2. D. Squalicorax baharijensis Stromer, 1927, Le Mas, Upper Cenomanian; labial (D1), and lingual (D2) views of UM LMS 1. E. Holotype of Squalicorax coquandi sp. nov., Port−des−Barques, basal Turonian; labial (E1), distal (E2), and lingual (E3) views of UM PDB 1. F. Squalicorax cf. intermedius Glückman in Glückman and Shvazhaite, 1971, Le Puits des Insurgés, Upper Cenomanian; labial (F1), mesial (F2), and lingual (F3) views of UM PDI 1.