Placoid scales (Chondrichthyes: Elasmobranchii) from the Late Jurassic (Kimmeridgian) of northern Germany

ABSTRACT

Bulk sampling of an Upper Jurassic (Kimmeridgian) section in front of the northern slope of the Harz mountains (northern Germany) has yielded a rich assemblage of elasmobranch placoid scales. Their study shows that 1) the placoid scales can be assigned to five hybodontiform and 15 neoselachian morphotypes, 2) the specific or generic identification of Late Jurassic hybodontiform placoid scales is at present impossible because of the lack of comparative material, and 3) the neoselachian placoid scales can be partially identified by comparison to articulated skeletons of neoselachians from the Tithonian of southern Germany. Among the neoselachians the scales of Palaeoscyllium sp., Synechodus sp. 1, Synechodus sp. 2, Asterodermus sp. 1, and Asterodermus sp. 2 were identified. The paleoecological and stratigraphical significance of the placoid scales from the Kimmeridgian section is discussed.