Stenoscyllium, Noubhani & Cappetta, 1997

Ebersole, Jun A., Cicimurri, David J. & Stringer, Gary L., 2019, Taxonomy and biostratigraphy of the elasmobranchs and bony fishes (Chondrichthyes and Osteichthyes) of the lower-to-middle Eocene (Ypresian to Bartonian) Claiborne Group in Alabama, USA, including an analysis of otoliths, European Journal of Taxonomy 585, pp. 1-274 : 60-61

Stenoscyllium cf. S. priemi Noubhani & Cappetta, 1997

Fig. 22

Stenoscyllium priemi Noubhani & Cappetta, 1997: 70 , pl. 28, figs 8–11, text-fig. 13.

Scyliorhinus subulidens – Arambourg 1952 : pl. 23, figs 2–4.

Material examined

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA – Alabama • 3 isolated teeth; Claiborne Group ; MSC 35760.1 – 2 , MSC 38527 .

Description

Teeth distinctively mesiodistally compressed. Tooth crown tall and triangular with a strong lingual bend. Both lingual and labial crown faces convex with smooth enameloid. Prominent mesial and distal cutting edges present on the upper two-thirds of crown, but not reaching the crown base. Basal labial crown face slightly overhangs root. Single pair of cusplets present on some teeth. Root holaulacorhize, with closely spaced, rounded lobes. In lingual view, root height almost equal to crown height. Lingual root face with pronounced protuberance bisected by nutritive groove. Large nutritive foramina present within nutritive groove. Individual foramina located on upper-half of lingual and labial root faces. Lingual, labial, and basal root faces distinctly flat.

Remarks

In his type suite for Scyliorhinus subulidens, Arambourg (1952) included several teeth that he considered to represent anterior jaw positions. Working with new material recovered from lower Eocene deposits in Morocco, Noubhani & Cappetta (1997) erected Stenoscyllium priemi to include the teeth Arambourg (1952) thought were anterior teeth of the subulidens species. The genus Stenoscyllium is currently monospecific, with the only species being S. priemi . Although the roots are abraded and the cusplets are not preserved on all the specimens in our sample, their overall morphology matches that of S. priemi as figured by Arambourg (1952: pl. 23), Noubhani & Cappetta (1997: pl. 28) and Cappetta (2012: fig. 266). Due to the preservation and limited sample size, our specimens are only tentatively assigned to this species.

Stratigraphic and geographic range in Alabama

The specimens in our sample were collected from the lower Tallahatta Formation at site ADl-1. Upper Ypresian/ lower Lutetian, Zone NP14.

Figures

Fig. 22. Stenoscyllium cf. S. priemi Noubhani & Cappetta, 1997, teeth. A–C. MSC 35760.1, lower Tallahatta Formation. A. Labial view. B. Mesial view. C. Lingual view. D–F. MSC 35760.2, lower Tallahatta Formation. D. Labial view. E. Distal view. F. Lingual view. Scale bars = 2 mm.