Middle Miocene (Badenian) chondrichthyan and osteichthyan remains from St. Margarethen (eastern Austria) in the vertebrate palaeontological collection of the Hungarian Natural History Museum

Abstract

To actualize the available data regarding Cenozoic fi sh materials housed in the vertebrate fossil collection of the Hungarian Natural History Museum (HNHM), Middle Miocene (Badenian) chondrichthyan remains, unearthed at St. Margarethen (Burgenland, eastern Austria) are revised in detail. Among the specimens, a mislabelled, slightly disarticulated, partial dentition surrounded by associable placoid scales and portions of suggested cartilage, referred to a juvenile individual of an indeterminate Carchariidae or Odontaspididae has been found. This specimen represents the first articulated shark fossil ever discovered in the Miocene of the Central Paratethys. The material also includes a large-sized, pathological tooth of Otodus (Megaselachus) megalodon, which is the largest and most spectacular of all Otodus (Megaselachus) megalodon teeth of the HNHM collection. The HNHM collection includes osteichthyan remains, also unearthed at St. Margarethen, but these specimens are only shortly mentioned. Although the Middle Miocene marine vertebrate fossils of St. Margarethen are actively investigated for over one and a half centuries, the HNHM material adds new and important data to our knowledge on the locality’s chondrichthyan fauna. The present paper also highlights the importance of accurate re-investigation of museum fossil collections. With 112 figures.