The oldest Gondwanan record of durophagous shark Strophodus Agassiz, 1838 (Hybodontiformes) from the Kachchh Basin, western India

Abstract

ABSTRACT The hybodont sharks were one of the most dominant groups of chondrichthyans during the Mesozoic. The genus Strophodus was one of the most successful hybodont sharks that covered marine to coastal, occasionally high salinity niches in the pantropical basins and had adapted an unique dentition for their durophagous diet. Although the European basins are enriched with the genus fossil record, the distribution in the Gondwana basins is scarce and patchy. The present study is the first report of the genus Strophodus from the Kachchh Basin and the oldest record from Gondwana. Three taxa are recorded here, viz. S. atlasensis, S. magnus and S. sp. from the ?Early to Middle Jurassic succession of Kachchh Basin that lived in the nearshore to an estuarine environment with abundant macrobenthic fauna, such as bivalves, brachiopods, gastropods and so on. The current study sheds light on the palaeoecology and palaeobiogeography of the genus. The new insights from the present work contribute to the poorly known chondrichthyan fauna from the Kachchh Basin and Gondwana as well.