Rhincodon, Smith, 1829

Cicimurri, David J. & Knight, James L., 2009, Late Oligocene sharks and rays from the Chandler Bridge Formation, Dorchester County, South Carolina, USA, Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 54 (4), pp. 627-647 : 630

Rhincodon cf. R. typus (Smith, 1828)

Fig. 3C .

Referred specimens.—BCGM 9044 and 9045, SC 2009.18.2.

Comments.—The teeth in our sample represent the oldest fossil record of Rhincodon Smith, 1829 . Prior to this discovery, fossil Rhincodon teeth were known only from the Miocene of France ( Cappetta 1970, 1987) and Mio−Pliocene of Lee Creek, North Carolina ( Purdy et al. 2001). An alleged lower Miocene occurrence in Delaware was reported by Purdy (1998: pl. 1: 8), but Purdy et al. (2001) later stated that the Lee Creek material represented the first record of the genus in the Atlantic Coastal Plain. Our fossils appear to be identical to the French material ( Cappetta 1970: 40, text−fig. 8, pl. 7: 7), and Purdy et al. (2001) stated that their specimens are identical to teeth of extant R. typus . We see no appreciable morphological difference between the Chandler Bridge teeth and those of R. typus (see Herman et al. 1992).

Stratigraphic and geographic range.—Oligocene (Chattian), USA (South Carolina); Miocene, France, USA (North Carolina), extant.

Figures

Fig. 3. Shark remains from Summerville, upper Chattian. A. Squatina cf. S. angeloides van Beneden, 1873, BCGM 9043, antero−lateral tooth, labial view. B. Nebrius cf. N. serra (Leidy, 1877), SC2009.18.1, antero−lateral tooth, labial view. C. Rhincodon cf. R. typus (Smith, 1828), BCGM 9045, anterior tooth, labial (C1), lateral (C2), and basal (C3) view. D.?Cetorhinus parvus (Leriche, 1908), BCGM 9050, dermal scale, dorsal view, anterior at bottom.