MYLIOBATOIDEI, Compagno, 1973

Cicimurri, David J., Knight, James L. & Ebersole, Jun A., 2022, Early Oligocene (Rupelian) fishes (Chondrichthyes, Osteichthyes) from the Ashley Formation (Cooper Group) of South Carolina, USA, PaleoBios 39 (1), pp. 1-38 : 17

MYLIOBATOIDEI COMPAGNO, 1973

FDASYATIDAE JORDAN AND GILBERT, 1879 TAENIUROPS GARMAN, 1913

“ TAENIUROPS ” CAVERNOSUS ( PROBST, 1877)

FIG. 7J–U

Type species — Taeniura meyeni Müller and Henle,

1841; Recent.

Raja cavernosa Probst, 1877 ; p. 75–76, plate 1, figs 1–4.

2009a Dasyatis cavernosa (Probst) ; Cicimurri and Knight, page 637–638, fig. 8A–B.

Referred specimens (n=11) —SC2007.36.52, SC2007.36.53( Fig. 7R, S ), SC2007.36.54 (six teeth), SC2007.36.224, SC2015.29.2 ( Fig. 7N–Q ), SC2015.29.42 ( Fig. 7J–M ).

Remarks —The Ashley Formation specimens exhibit an ornamented labial face that is concave apically, which are features that compare to those of Raja cavernosa Probst, 1877 . This species was later moved to Dasyatis Rafinesque, 1810a and more recently assigned to Taeniurops by Cappetta (2012). However, we prefer a more conservative approach and utilize the generic name in quotes to denote that the teeth could in fact represent some other closely related, but extinct, taxon. Although Müller (1999:60) identified Dasyatis cavernosa from the Ashley Formation, he did not illustrate any specimens and we cannot determine if it is conspecific with our “ Taeniurops ” cavernosus . Cicimurri and Knight (2009a) recorded the species from the overlying Chandler Bridge Formation of South Carolina, and it was also reported in Oligocene deposits of North Carolina ( Case 1980) and Virginia ( Müller 1999). Taeniurops cavernosus has been reported from Oligo-Miocene strata of Europe ( Reinecke et al. 2001, Reinecke et al. 2005, Reinecke et al. 2008). Specimens identified as T. cavernosus by Reinecke and Radwański (2015) are much less ornamented than the teeth in our sample.

Figures

Figure 7. Batoid teeth from the Givhans Ferry Member, Ashley Formation (Rupelian), Dorchester County, South Carolina. A, B. Raja mccollumi male tooth, SC2007.36.132 in distal (A) and labial (B) views. C, D. Raja mccollumi female tooth, SC2007.36.31 in mesial (C) and labial (D) views. E, F. Raja sp. male tooth, SC2007.36.33 in mesial (E) and labial (F) views. G, H. Raja mccollumi female tooth, SC2007.36.124 in mesial (G) and labial (H) views. I. Rhynchobatus sp. tooth, SC2007.36.39 in occlusal view. J–M. “Taeniurops” cavernosus low-crowned tooth, SC2015.29.42 in occlusal (J), profile (K), labial (L), and basal (M) views. N–Q. “Taeniurops” cavernosus male tooth, SC2015.29.2 in occlusal (N), profile (O), labial (P), and basal (Q) views. R, S. “Taeniurops” cavernosus low-crowned tooth, SC2007.36.53 in occlusal (R) and profile (S) views. T, U. “Taeniurops” cavernosus male tooth, SC207.36.51 in occlusal (T) and profile (U) views. V–Y. “Dasyatis” sp. low-crowned tooth, SC2015.29.45 in occlusal (V), profile(W), labial (X), and labio-oblique (Y) views. Z–CC. “Dasyatis” sp. low-crowned tooth, SC2007.36.49 in occlusal (Z), profile (AA), lingual (BB), and labial (CC) views. Scale bar=0.5 mm in C, D, G, H; 1 mm in E, F, I, T, U; 2 mm in A, B; 5 mm in J–S, V–CC.