Hemipristis curvatus (Dames, 1883)

EXAMINED MATERIAL. — Five broken isolated teeth, figured material includes FSAC Bouj-343.

DESCRIPTION

An upper tooth (Fig. 4D) belonging to the snuggle tooth shark Hemipristis curvatus was recovered from the Locality 1. The crown is compressed labio-lingually, slanted distally with unserrated mesial cutting edge.

REMARKS

The snuggle tooth shark, Hemipristis curvatus is known in all the tropical seas during the late Eocene, from Western Neotethys (e.g., Case & Cappetta 1990; Mustafa & Zalmout 2002; Underwood et al. 2011) to western central Atlantic (e.g., Case & Borodin 2000). Its occurrence in the middle Eocene is less usual (Underwood et al. 2011). Only two teeth were recorded in MI (Underwood et al. 2011), it becomes common from the GE A-C (around the

Bartonian/Priabonian boundary) and within the rest of the BQ (Priabonian).