Abstract
Portugal has a rich fossil record both on the continent and in the Azores islands (Santa Maria). For decades, researchers have found thousands of fossils and identified hundreds of species from major taxonomic groups. The present work focuses on analyzing the scientific literature on fossils of Chondrichthyes collected in fossiliferous deposits of the Neogene. Fossils of sharks and rays, teeth, dermal denticles, and caudal spines were discovered in deposits from Aquitanian to Piacenzian (Neogene). About 105 deposits were identified and studied on the mainland and on the Island of Santa Maria, most of which have disappeared or are currently inaccessible. In total, 36 publications list 91 species of Chondrichthyes, 11 of which were described for the first time in Portugal, and 61 genera. Twelve orders are represented in the material published so far.
Highlights
Chondrichthyes are a numerous and diverse group, divided into two subclasses: Elasmobranchii (Selachii and Batoidea) and Holocephali (Amaral et al 2018; Naylor et al 2012)
It was possible to list the occurrence of 16.106 fossils, 91 species, 61 genera, and 31 families from 11 selachian orders (Figure 2)
The extensive noncontinuous research of 135 years on the Portuguese fossil marine sediments presented in the current work supports the conception of high selachian diversity present in the geological record of the country
Summary
Chondrichthyes are a numerous and diverse group, divided into two subclasses: Elasmobranchii (Selachii and Batoidea) and Holocephali (Amaral et al 2018; Naylor et al 2012). According to the “Shark References” database, in March 2021, there were 4.186 Chondrichthyes species known to science, 69.8% extinct, and 30.2% extant (Pollerspöck & Straube 2021). The majority of the forms of cartilaginous fishes are already extinct, with only 14 orders still represented in the recent biodiversity worldwide: Carcharhiniformes, Chimaeriformes, Echinorhiniformes, Hexanchiformes, Heterodontiformes, Lamniformes, Myliobatiformes, Orectolobiformes, Pristiophoriformes, Rajiformes, Rhinopristiformes, Squatiniformes, Squaliformes, Torpediniformes. The first mentions of Chondrichthyes fossil forms in Portuguese sediments date back to 1885 with the work by Choffat (in Sauvage 1897-98), and with the reference of Portuguese fossil fishes in the British Museum collections by A.
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