Hybodont sharks from the Jurassic of Jaisalmer, western India

ABSTRACT

Jurassic (Bathonian-Oxfordian) hybodont sharks are described for the first time from the Jaisalmer Basin of Rajasthan, western India. Isolated, possibly associated, crushing-type hybodont teeth recovered from the Jaisalmer Formation (Fort, Badabag and Jajiya members) are assigned to two species of Strophodus: Strophodus jaisalmerensis sp. nov. and Strophodus sp. Strophodus, long considered to be a junior synonym of the iconic ninteenth century genus Asteracanthus, has recently been shown to be distinct from the latter. This is the first record of Strophodus from the Indian subcontinent and it significantly expands the distribution of this genus in the Jurassic of the eastern Tethys. The hybodont-bearing horizons yielded an assemblage of vertebrates (e.g. pycnodont fishes, crocodilians), invertebrates and fossil wood, suggesting a near-shore marine environment for the new species.

KEYWORDS:

• Strophodus
• Jurassic
• hybodont shark
• Asteracanthus
• Jaisalmer
• Rajasthan

Acknowledgements

Authors thank the three reviewers whose constructive comments helped to improve this work significantly. Authors also extend their gratitude and thanks to the Additional Director General & HOD, Geological Survey of India, Western Region, Jaipur for providing departmental facilities, support and permission for this study. Sunil Bajpai thanks Márton Szabó (University of Pécs, Hungary) for discussions. Many thanks also to Jürgen Pollerspöck (Germany) for his kind help by providing some much needed, old literature and illustrations. Some of the material described in this paper is part of the ongoing doctoral work of one of us (TG) at IIT Roorkee.

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Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.