Abstract
Three large lamniform shark vertebrae are described from the Lower Cretaceous of Texas. We interpret these fossils as belonging to a single individual with a calculated total body length of 6.3 m. This large individual compares favorably to another shark specimen from the roughly contemporaneous Kiowa Shale of Kansas. Neither specimen was recovered with associated teeth, making confident identification of the species impossible. However, both formations share a similar shark fauna, with Leptostyrax macrorhiza being the largest of the common lamniform sharks. Regardless of its actual identification, this new specimen provides further evidence that large-bodied lamniform sharks had evolved prior to the Late Cretaceous.
Highlights
Shark (Chondrichthyes; Elasmobranchii) vertebrae are less common than teeth in the fossil record, and unlike teeth, are relatively undiagnostic at the species level when found in isolation
We assume that the relationship between vertebral size and total body length is consistent between well-represented species and OMNH 68860
The principal conclusions of this paper are: 1. Large shark vertebrae were recovered from the Lower Cretaceous Duck Creek Formation of Texas
Summary
Shark (Chondrichthyes; Elasmobranchii) vertebrae are less common than teeth in the fossil record, and unlike teeth, are relatively undiagnostic at the species level when found in isolation. Shark vertebrae yield important data on the biology and ecology of fossil sharks, even without clear species association. We describe three isolated vertebrae (Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History [OMNH] 68860) from a very large lamniform shark found within Albian-age rocks of north-central Texas. As no teeth were recovered in association with the vertebrae.
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