Kenshu Shimadaa,b, Michael J. Everhartb, Ramo Deckerc and Pamela D. Deckerc
aEnvironmental Science Program and Department of Biological Sciences, DePaul University, 2325 North Clifton Avenue, Chicago, Illinois 60614, USA. Solo usuarios registrados se encuentran habilitados a visualizar los enlaces. Gracias por su visita.
bSternberg Museum of Natural History, Fort Hays State University, Hays, Kansas 67601, USA
c1348 North 50th Road, Sylvan Grove, Kansas 67481, USA
Abstract
Ptychodus mortoni Mantell is a Late Cretaceous shark that possessed pavement-like tooth plates that were used to feed on hard-shelled macroinvertebrates (durophagy). Here, we describe a new specimen of P. mortoni from the Fort Hays Limestone Member of the Niobrara Chalk in Kansas, USA, that consists of associated teeth, placoid scales, and a portion of the right upper jaw. Although the specimen is fragmentary, this fossil supports the previously proposed contention that P. mortoni was a gigantic animal that likely reached at least 10 m in total body length with an estimated jaw length of nearly 1 m.
Keywords: Late Cretaceous; Niobrara Chalk; Ptychodontidae; Ptychodus; Shark; Western Interior Seaway
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