A “cemetery” of sharks was found in the Mammoth Cave: two new species were identified among them
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In the Mammoth Cave National Park in the American state of Kentucky, scientists found a “cemetery” of sharks, among which they discovered two new species of these predators.
They lived about 325 million years ago, writes Live Science. Archaeologists have suggested that sharks lived in an ancient sea that existed before the supercontinent Pangea formed.
Two new species were identified as Troglocladodus trimblei and Glikmanius careforum. Both are ctenacanths (a type of basking shark), ancient “relatives” of modern sharks with protective comb spines on their spines.
Because the fossils in Mammoth Cave are not exposed to the elements, they are usually in better condition and have much more detail than those fossils found on the surface.
| Photo: NPS/Benji Paynose |
“In this environment, they look as if they came out of a shark’s mouth yesterday”said John-Paul Hodnett, a paleontologist with the Maryland National Capital and Parks Planning Commission who works with the National Park Service’s paleontology program.
Researchers believe that Troglocladodus trimblei could reach a length of 3-3.5 meters and had “fork-like teeth”. This is where its name comes from, which translates as “cave branched tooth”. The species name “trimblei” was given in honor of Barclay Trimble, the director of Mammoth Cave, who first discovered them in 2019.
Of Glikmanius careforum, then it could have been the same length, and also had a powerful and strong bite that allowed it to eat other sharks, fish and orthocones (ancient relatives of squid). Hodnett noted that they may have behaved similarly to lemon or gray sharks.
Scientists identified new species thanks to their teeth. They were discovered in the passage of the Mammoth Cave, the length of which is 676 kilometers. It was so small that researchers have not yet been able to get certain remains of sharks.
Scientists have established that these two species of sharks lived and hunted near the coast in the ancient sea that connected North America, Europe and northern Africa. The American states of Kentucky and Alabama are located in this place today. It disappeared when Africa collided with North America and Europe during the formation of Pangea (the supercontinent that 300 million years ago contained almost all of the land).
It will be recalled that a baby white shark was spotted in California.
Read also: “Was slimmer”: scientists changed the idea of the body shape of the extinct megalodon
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