Edaphodon kawai, sp. nov. (Chondrichthyes: Holocephali): a Late Cretaceous chimaeroid from the Chatham Islands, Southwest Pacific

ABSTRACT

Chimaeroid (Chondrichthyes: Holocephali) mandibular toothplates of Edaphodon kawai, sp. nov., are described from the Cretaceous-Paleogene Takatika Grit of Chatham Islands, New Zealand. This is the first description of a chimaeroid from the Chatham Islands-New Zealand region, extending the geographical and temporal range of this genus globally. The new species is defined by a straight toothplate and long robust beak, which is armed with a long laminated symphyseal tritor and has an elongate anterior outer tritor and a pronounced asymmetric ridge positioned mesially on the oral surface. This unique arrangement may reflect a feeding strategy of cutting and crushing, which differs from most previously identified callorhynchids that possess crushing surfaces only.