Abstract
ABSTRACT A partial association of fourteen teeth from a small lamniform shark with uncertain affinities is described. The material comes from the middle? Albian of Peru and represents a new genus and species, Priscusurus adruptodontus. The new taxon is characterized by a tearing-type dentition with comparably small teeth that lack any ornamentation and lateral cusplets. Other diagnostic features include distally inclined cusps in all tooth positions, an asymmetric root, and the lack of a lingual nutritive groove. The most remarkable feature is the very distinctly shaped lingual tooth neck, which differentiates teeth of the new taxon from all known lamniforms. The total body length, which was estimated from the crown height of the tallest preserved anterior tooth and a regression equation for the dentition of the modern sand tiger shark, Carcharias taurus, is only 69 cm. The very rare finds of this taxon and the restricted occurrence may indicate that Priscusurus was probably an endemic element of the shelf areas of western South America.
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