0000000000172885
AUTHOR
Esther Manzanares
A late Permian ichthyofauna from the Zechstein Basin, Lithuania-Latvia Region
AbstractThe late Permian is a transformative time, which ended in one of the most significant extinction events in Earth’s history. Fish assemblages are a major component of marine foods webs. The macroevolution and biogeographic patterns of late Permian fish are currently insufficiently known. In this contribution, the late Permian fish fauna from Kūmas quarry (southern Latvia) is described for the first time. As a result, the studied late Permian Latvian assemblage consisted of isolated chondrichthyan teeth ofHelodussp., ?Acrodussp., ?Omanoselachesp. and euselachian type dermal denticles as well as many osteichthyan scales of the Haplolepidae and Elonichthydae; numerous teeth ofPalaeonisc…
First occurrence of fossil vertebrates from the Carboniferous of Colombia
Data concerning Paleozoic vertebrates from the South American continent are still scarce. In Colombia, occurrences were until now restricted to the Late Devonian fish assemblage from Floresta and, ...
Lonchidion derenzii, sp. nov., a new lonchidiid shark (Chondrichthyes, Hybodontiforms) from the Upper Triassic of Spain, with remarks on lonchidiid enameloid
Lonchidiidae Herman, 1977, represents one of the most diverse and controversial families of Hybodontiformes, the sister group of Neoselachii (i.e., modern sharks, skates, and rays). It was initially erected as a monogeneric family including only Lonchidion Estes, 1964, a genus of small euryhaline hybodonts from the Mesozoic. Recently, Cappetta (2012) recognized up to eight genera within the family: Baharyodon, Diplolonchidion, Vectiselachos, Hylaeobatis, Isanodus, Parvodus,Lissodus, andLonchidion, although the content of the family is still under discussion (see, e.g., Rees, 2008; Khamha et al., 2016). Major discrepancies concern the phylogenetic relationships between Lonchidion and Lissodu…
Palaeontological Virtual Congress: A new way to make science
On the first month of 2018, one of the authors (VDC) of this preface had an interesting idea: to hold a virtual congress. At first, he did not know of the existence of this kind of congress, but a quick internet search showed him that there were some examples in the fields of medicine and veterinary medicine; however, it had never been done in palaeontology. For that reason, with the help of other co-workers from the Universitat de València, Museo Paleontológico de Alpuente and Museu Valencià d’Historia Natural, we decided to undertake this adventure. Fil: Crespo Roures, Vicente Daniel. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo. División Paleontología Vertebra…
Ontogenetic development of the holocephalan dentition: Morphological transitions of dentine in the absence of teeth.
Among the cartilaginous fishes (Chondrichthyes), the Holocephali are unique in that teeth are absent both in ontogeny and adult regenerative growth. Instead, the holocephalan dentition of ever-growing nonshedding dental plates is composed of dentine, trabecular in arrangement, forming spaces into which a novel hypermineralized dentine (whitlockin) is deposited. These tissue features form a variety of specific morphologies as the defining characters of dental plates in the three families of extant holocephalans. We demonstrate how this morphology changes through ontogenetic development with continuity between morphologies, through successive growth stages of the dentition represented by the …
Patterns of ecological diversification in thelodonts
Here we explore the spatial, temporal and phylogenetic patterns of ecological diversification for the entire clade of thelodonts, one of the earliest groups of vertebrates and longest lasting of the Palaeozoic agnathans in the fossil record. Parsimony and maximum-likelihood methods are used to reconstruct ancestral states of their geographical distributions, habitats and lifestyles. Our results support the concept that thelodonts originated during the Middle?-Late Ordovician probably in marine open waters of Laurasia, with a demersal lifestyle on hard substrates being the ancestral condition for the whole clade. Later, thelodonts underwent a complex ecological diversification and palaeobiog…
New data on the Lower Devonian chondrichthyan fauna from Celtiberia (Spain)
Lower Devonian microvertebrate remains from Spain, including localities in Celtiberia and Cantabrian Mountains, have been extensively studied during recent decades (e.g., Mader, 1986; Wang, 1993; ...
New insights into the enameloid microstructure of batoid fishes (Chondrichthyes)
Chondrichthyan teeth are capped with a hypermineralized tissue known as enameloid. Its microstructure displays a hierarchical organization that has increased in structural complexity from a homogenous single-crystallite enameloid (SCE) in early Chondricthyans to the complex multilayered enameloid found in modern sharks (consisting of bundles of crystallites arranged in intriguing patterns). Recent analyses of the enameloid microstructure in batoid fishes, focused on Myliobatiformes and fossil taxa, point to the presence of a bundled (or fibred) multilayered enameloid, a condition proposed as plesiomorphic for Batoidea. In this work, we provide further enameloid analysis for a selection of t…
Obruchevacanthus ireneae gen. et sp. nov., a new ischnacanthiform (Acanthodii) from the Lower Devonian of Spain
New disarticulated material of typically ischnacanthid scales, tooth whorls, and ?dentigerous jaw bones that occur recurrently together at many levels of the Lower Devonian of the Iberian Chain (Spain) is described. Based on their stratigraphical occurrence, histological evidence and comparison with similar ischnacanthid assemblages from other localities, we suggest including all of these remains in a unique natural assemblage, Obruchevacanthus ireneae gen. et sp. nov. This new taxon shares some features with Trundlelepis cervicostulata from the Lower Devonian of New South Wales (Australia), as for example the presence of a poorly developed pore canal system in their scales. This feature su…
Holocephalan (Chondrichthyes) dental plates with hypermineralized dentine as a substitute for missing teeth through developmental plasticity.
All extant holocephalans (Chimaeroidei) have lost the ability to make individual teeth, as tooth germs are neither part of the embryonic development of the dental plates, nor of their continuous growth. Instead, a hypermineralized dentine with a unique mineral, whitlockin, is specifically distributed within a dentine framework into structures that give the dental plates their distinctive, species-specific morphology. Control of the regulation of this distribution must be cellular, with a dental epithelium initiating the first outer dentine, and via contact with ectomesenchymal tissue as the only embryonic cell type that can make dentine.\ud Chimaeroids have three pairs of dental plates with…
Middle-Late Triassic chondrichthyans remains from the the Betic Range (Spain)
Purpose In the present study, we described, for first time, the chondrichthyan fauna from several Middle-Late Triassic sections in the Betic Domain and compare it with other recent described coeval faunas from the Iberian Ranges. Methods Specimens were retrieved after the dissolution (with 10% acetic acid) of carbonate rocks. Results The assemblage comprises of seven species belonging to six genera (Hybodus plicatilis, Omanoselache bucheri comb. nov., Omanoselache contrarius comb. nov., Lonchidion derenzii, Lissodus aff. L. lepagei, Pseudodalatias henarejensis and cf. Rhomaleodus budurovi), most of them non-nesoselachian. Chondrichthyans remains occur in levels dating from Ladinian to Carni…
Middle Triassic sharks from the Catalan Coastal ranges (NE Spain) and faunal colonization patterns during the westward transgression of Tethys
Abstract Palaeogeographic changes that occurred during the Middle Triassic in the westernmost Tethyan domain were governed by a westward marine transgression of the Tethys Ocean. The transgression flooded wide areas of the eastern part of Iberia, forming new epicontinental shallow-marine environments, which were subsequently colonized by diverse faunas, including chondrichthyans. The transgression is recorded by two successive transgressive–regressive cycles: (1) middle–late Anisian and (2) late Anisian–early Carnian. Here, we describe the chondrichthyan fauna recovered from several Middle Triassic stratigraphic sections (Pelsonian-Longobardian) located at the Catalan Coastal Basin (western…
Tiburones de aguas profundas en el Mioceno medio de Alicante: implicaciones para la recuperación de los ecosistemas abisales mediterráneos después de la crisis mesiniense
El estudio de la localidad clásica de El Chorrillo del Mioceno Medio (Serravaliense) en la Provincia de Alicante, ha permitido la recuperación de una interesante asociación de microrestos de tiburones caracterizada por al menos siete taxones (Deania calcea, ¿Isistius triangulus, ¿Squaliolus cf. schaubi, ¿Paraetmopterus sp., Pristiophorus sp., Scyliorhinus sp. y un Squaliforme indeterminado) pertenecientes a tres órdenes diferentes (Squaliformes, Pristiophoriformes y Carcharhiniformes). Asociados a estos microrestos se han identificado también macrodientes pertenecientes a Cosmopolitodus hastalis, Isurus sp., Hemipristis serra, Odontaspis sp., Carcharhinus spp. y ¿Otodus (Megaselachus) megal…
A Serravallian (Middle Miocene) shark fauna from Southeastern Spain and its palaeoenvironment significance
The study of a new Serravallian (Middle Miocene) locality from the Southeastern Spain has yielded a shark assemblage characterized by microremains of at least seven taxa (Deania calcea, ¿Isistius triangulus, ¿Squaliolus cf. S. schaubi, ¿Paraetmopterus sp., Pristiophorus sp., Scyliorhinus sp. and a cf. Squaliformes indet) of three different orders (Squaliformes, Pristiophoriformes and Carcharhiniformes). In addition, associated macroremains have also been found, including teeth of ¿Cosmopolitodus hastalis, Isurus sp., Hemipristis serra, Odontaspis sp., Carcharhinus spp. and ¿Otodus (Megaselachus) megalodon. The assemblage contains taxa with disparate environmental preferences including not o…
Evolution of the Dentition in Holocephalans (Chondrichthyes) Through Tissue Disparity
Abstract The Holocephali is a major group of chondrichthyan fishes, the sister taxon to the sharks and rays (Elasmobranchii). However, the dentition of extant holocephalans is very different from that of the elasmobranchs, lacking individual tooth renewal, but comprising dental plates made entirely of self-renewing dentine. This renewal of all tissues occurs at the postero-lingual plate surface, as a function of their statodont condition. The fossil record of the holocephalans illuminates multiple different trends in the dentition, including shark-like teeth through to those with dentitions completely lacking individual teeth. Different taxa illustrate developmental retention of teeth but w…
Data from: Patterns of ecological diversification in thelodonts
Here we explore the spatial, temporal and phylogenetic patterns of ecological diversification for the entire clade of thelodonts, one of the earliest groups of vertebrates and longest lasting of the Palaeozoic agnathans in the fossil record. Parsimony and maximum-likelihood methods are used to reconstruct ancestral states of their geographical distributions, habitats and lifestyles. Our results support the concept that thelodonts originated during the Middle?–Late Ordovician probably in marine open waters of Laurasia, with a demersal lifestyle on hard substrates being the ancestral condition for the whole clade. Later, thelodonts underwent a complex ecological diversification and palaeobiog…