Hybodont dentition from the Upper Jurassic of Monte Nerone Pelagic Carbonate Platform (Umbria‐Marche Apennine, Italy) and its ecological implications

Abstract

Here we describe a number of articulated teeth of a hybodont shark from Upper Jurassic deposits of the Monte Nerone Pelagic Carbonate Platform, in the Umbria‐Marche‐Sabina Palaeogeographic Domain (Northern Apennines, Central Italy). The material has been referred to as Asteracanthus cf. A. magnus, a quite well‐known taxon already reported from Middle to Upper Jurassic deposits of Europe. Teeth indicate an extreme crushing feeding behaviour, suggesting as putative prey both infaunal and epifaunal hard‐shelled invertebrates dwelling the sea‐floor, such as large bivalves, brachiopods, gastropods as well as vagile crustaceans. The finding represents, to date, the first formal report of hybodont shark in the Umbria‐Marche‐Sabina Domain, throwing further light on the ecology within Pelagic Carbonate Platform settings, and on the occurrence of Asteracanthus in the Late Jurassic of the Western Tethys.