Spathobatis undetermined

Kriwet, Jürgen, Nunn, Elizabeth V. & Klug, Stefanie, 2009, Neoselachians (Chondrichthyes, Elasmobranchii) from the Lower and lower Upper Cretaceous of north-eastern Spain, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 155 (2), pp. 316-347 : 325-327

SPATHOBATIS SP. ( FIG. 6E–L )

Material: Three teeth, MPZ 2005-12 to MPZ 2005-14.

Occurrence: Samples 3 and 5 from the highstand systems tract representing a deepening succession of fully marine conditions (facies 3) of the upper Blesa Formation (Upper Barremian) of the Oliete subbasin.

Description: The teeth are fairly small, with a cuspidate crown approximately as broad as it is long. The transverse crest is sharp and rectilinear, rising centrally. The labial face contour is quite rounded, with a well-marked central protuberance, and occasional weak folds on the labial rim. The lingual face is abrupt, with a strong, broad and rounded central uvula that follows the lingual contour, and a pair of faint lateral uvulae. The central uvula has a step-like appearance caused by a slight depression towards the extremity. The root is thick and broad, with a broad nutritive groove, and a pair of margino-lingual foramina located close to the crown.

Remarks: This specimen is assigned to the genus Spathobatis using the classification scheme of Cavin et al. (1995). The teeth have a well-developed transverse crest, better developed cusp and a broader uvula compared with the previous taxon. A specific assignment is impossible. It differs from the teeth of Spathobatis sp. from the Valanginian of Poland ( Rees, 2005) in more robust and higher crown. Kriwet (1999a) assigned few teeth from the Barremian of Aguilón to ‘S pathobatis ’ halteri, a taxon previously assigned to Rhinobatos by Biddle & Landemaine (1988), reasoning that the tooth crown morphology of this taxon displays the characteristics of Spathobatis . The teeth described herein differ in the more rounded labial crown edge and the more vertically orientated labial face of the root.

Figures

Figure 6. A–D, Belemnobatis sp., anterior tooth. A, labial view. B, lateral view. C, lingual view. D, occlusal view. E–L, Spathobatis sp. E–H, antero–lateral tooth. E, labial view. F, lateral view. G, lingual view. H, occlusal view. I–L, lateral tooth. I, labial view. J, lateral view. K, lingual view. L, occlusal view. M–P, Rhinobatoidei indet. M, labial view. N, lateral view. O, lingual view. P, occlusal view. Q–T, Rhinobatos sp. Q, labial view. R, lateral view. S, lingual view. T, occlusal view. All scale bars equal 0.5 mm.