Article: Biology, dental morphology and taxonomy of lamniform sharks from the Campanian of the Kristianstad Basin, Sweden
Publication: Palaeontology
Volume:
35
Part:
3
Publication Date:
August
1992
Page(s):
519
–
554
Author(s):
Mikael Siverson
Abstract
A rich lamniform selachian fauna, comprising twelve species, is recorded from the informal B. mammillatus zone of the Kristianstad Basin. Five new taxa, including a North American one, are introduced: Archaeolamna gen. nov., with the species A. kopingensis (Davis, 1890) and the subspecies A. k. judithensis subsp. nov. from the Campanian of Montana, USA, Scapanorhynchus perssoni sp. nov., Anomotodon hermani sp. nov. and Carcharias aasenensis sp. nov. The remaining eight species include Cretoxyrhina mantelli (Agassiz, 1843), Cretodus borodini (Cappetta and Case, 1975), Cretolamna appendiculata (Agassiz, 1843), Leptostyrax sp. (possibly Santonian contaminant), Paranomotodon sp., Carcharias latus (Davis, 1890), Carcharias tennis (Davis, 1890 non Agassiz, 1843) and Squalicorax kaupi (Agassiz, 1843). Parasymphyseal teeth of Cretolamna are described for the first time, indicating a close kinship to Cretoxyrhina. A possibly temperature-controlled relatively high degree of endemism is demonstrated for several small to medium sized Campanian odontaspidids. It is concluded that the diversity of lamniform sharks may have been linked to the great abundance of belemnites in the basin during the B. mammillatus time. Davis's 1890 paper on Scandinavian Cretaceous/Palaeocene selachians is revised concerning the lamniforms, clarifying many locality data errors.