Tag Archives: Carboniferous

New Shark Species from the Carboniferous Identified by Paleontologists

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Paleontologists have identified a new genus and species of obruchevodid petalodont (petal teeth) sharks from multiple teeth excavated in Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky, USA.

Provisional reconstruction of Clavusodens McGinnisi (Modified later) netsepoye) Farming leaf-like crustaceans on the seabed of a crinoid forest from a Joppa member of STE. Genevieve layer with ctenacanth Glikmanius Careforum Overhead swimming. Image credit: Benji Paysnoe/NPS illustration.

The newly identified shark species is believed to have swum in the Carboniferous oceans 340 million years ago.

It belongs to the family obruchevodidae, in the order of extinct cartilage fish called petalodontiformes.

Scientifically named Clavusodens McGinnisi, the shark measured only 8-10 cm (3-4 inches) in length.

“Clavusodens McGinnisi,” said Dr. John Paul Hodnett and his fellow Ph.D., “was named the ‘chipmunk shark’ due to its small size and flea-like front teeth, with crushing teeth on its back. Members of the Obruchevodidae were 8-10 cm long.”

“Their small size allowed them to avoid larger predators as they foraged crustaceans, insects, and small brachiopods found along the seabed.”

Small teeth of Clavusodens McGinnisi were found throughout the STE. Genevieve Formation Rock Formation in Mammoth Cave National Park.

The rocks are made up of limestone and shale, forming at the bottom of a warm sea reef.

The majority of fossilized sharks can be found in rock formations made from invertebrate hash beds, skeletal blasts, corals, gastropods, and brachiopod shells.

No shark fossils were known from STE prior to discoveries made in the Mammoth Cave over the past few years.

To date, more than 70 species of sharks and other fish have been identified from this geological formation, including four new species.

“The discovery of the Mammoth Caves continues to reveal a wealth of new information about ancient shark species,” added Principal Berkle Limble, Mammoth Caves National Park.

“Researchers and volunteers have collected samples from major mammoth cave systems and small isolated caves throughout the park, providing new data on previously known ancient sharks, revealing some species that are perfect for science.”

Discovery of Clavusodens McGinnisi was reported in a paper in Journal of Paleontology.

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John Paul M. Hodnett et al. Petalodons (Condrissy, Petalodontifolioum, obruchevodidae) from Joppa members in central Mississippi (Vissian). Genevieve Formation in Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky, USA Journal of PaleontologyPublished online on February 24th, 2025. doi: 10.1017/jpa.2024.40

Source: www.sci.news

Confirmation of Two Newly Discovered Carboniferous Ctenacan Shark Species in the United States

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An intensive search for ancient marine vertebrates in Mammoth Cave National Park's paleontological resource inventory has yielded a wealth of new fossil data. To date, paleontologists have identified marine vertebrate fossils from four major formations within the park, two of which are the first of marine vertebrate fossils to occur in those formations. It's a record. The Mammoth Cave ruins have yielded more than 70 species of ancient fish, approximately 90% of which are cartilaginous fish (sharks and related species), including two new species: I am. Troglocladodus trimbley and Grikmanius Care Forum.

Reconstruction of a new Ctenacan shark discovered in Mammoth Cave National Park and northern Alabama: Grikmanius Care Forum Two people can be seen swimming in the foreground. Troglocladodus trimbley swimming above. Image credit: Benji Paynose.

Mammoth Cave National ParkLocated in central Kentucky, it is home to the longest cave system in the world.

To date, more than 685 km (426 miles) of corridors within 214 km have been mapped.2 It forms a park. In addition, within the boundaries of the park there are more than 500 small caves.

These cave passages date back 340 to 325 million years and were formed by dissolution by underground rivers, streams, and other drainage channels that cut through a series of limestones covered with durable sandstone. I did.

These passages opened up unique views of these limestones. Limestone is a time capsule containing a wealth of information about the ancient marine environment at the time of its deposition.

From these layers, invertebrate fossils such as horned corals, fan-like bryozoans, brachiopods, gastropods, shelled cephalopods, and a variety of echinoderms are found throughout the various strata that form the cave. It has been.

“Every new discovery at Mammoth Cave is made possible because of collaboration,” said Superintendent Barclay Trimble.

“Our parks team is proud to collaborate and collaborate with the National Park Service Paleontology Program and now the University of Alabama Department of Geological Sciences to make this latest announcement possible.”

Restoration of the St. Louis Shallow Marine Environment and its Fauna Genevieve Formation, Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky. Image credit: Julius Csotony.

The two new species are stenacanto shark, Troglocladodus trimbley and Grikmanius Care Forumlikely hunting in an ancient coastal habitat that covered Kentucky and Alabama more than 325 million years ago.

This region was once an ancient sea route connecting what is now eastern North America, Europe, and North Africa, but it later disappeared with the formation of the supercontinent Pangea.

Troglocladodus trimbley It was identified from adult and juvenile teeth found in St. Louis and St. Louis. Genevieve Formation and Bangor Formation of Mammoth Cave.

The ancient shark is estimated to have reached about 3 to 3.7 meters (10 to 12 feet) in length, about the same size as the oceanic white shark.

Grikmanius Care Forum It was mainly identified from teeth in St. Louis, St. Louis.Genebabe and Haney Formations in Mammoth Cave, Hartselle and Bangor Formations in Alabama, but a partial set of jaws and gills from a young specimen Grikmanius Care Forum It was also discovered in Mammoth Cave.

The body length of this species was 3-3.7 meters. The shape of its jaws suggests that it had a short head with a powerful bite to hunt small sharks, bony fish, and right-cone-shaped creatures like squid.

“This discovery pushes the origin of the Ktenacanto shark back more than 50 million years earlier than expected,” the paleontologists said.

of study It was published in the magazine park management forum.

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JM Hodnet other. 2024. Sharks in the Dark: Paleontological inventory reveals multiple contiguous populations of Mississippian cartilaginous fishes (chondrichthyes) in Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky. park management forum 40(1); doi: 10.5070/P540162921

Source: www.sci.news

Unique Crown Shapes of Early Carboniferous Tree Species

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Sanphodiacaulis densifolia is an extinct tree species that existed in what is now New Brunswick, Canada, between 359 and 347 million years ago (Carboniferous period). The structure consisted of an unbranched 16 cm diameter trunk and compound leaves arranged in a 13 cm spiral and compressed to a vertical trunk length of 14 cm. The compound leaves in the upper 0.75 m of the trunk were over 1.75 m long, with preserved alternating secondary collaterals starting 0.5 m from the trunk. In the lower region of the trunk there were only persistent leaf bases. Sanphodiacaulis densifolia shows that the early Carboniferous vegetation was more complex than expected, indicating that this was an experimental, perhaps transitional, period of diverse growth structures.

Sanphodiacaulis densifolia. Image credit: Tim Stonecipher.

Trees first appeared during the Middle Devonian period (393 to 383 million years ago), but modern woody plants did not appear until about 10 million years later.

Evidence for dendritic structures (tree-like structures) is primarily based on mud moldings, sand moldings, or calcified stumps, or extensive root structures in fossilized soils.

Under unique preservation conditions, these early trees fossilized with roots and crown structures attached to their trunks.

“The method is Sanphodiacaulis densifolia “It has very long leaves around its slender trunk, and it's amazing how many leaves there are on such a short trunk,” said Dr. Robert Gastaldo, a paleontologist at Colby College. he said.

“The morphology of these 350-million-year-old trees looks like ferns or palms, even though palms arose 300 million years ago.”

“However, the functional leaves of ferns and palm trees are clustered at the top and are relatively few in number.”

“in contrast, Sanphodiacaulis densifolia More than 250 leaves have been preserved around the trunk, with each partially preserved leaf extending 1.75 meters from the trunk. ”

“We estimate that each leaf grew at least another meter before it finished.”

“This means that ‘bottlebrush’ had a dense canopy of leaves that were not woody and spread for at least 5.5 meters around a trunk that was only 16 cm in diameter. Amazing to say the least. .”

Sanphodiacaulis densifolia It has compound leaves arranged in a spiral.Image credit: Gastaldo other., doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2024.01.011.

Dr. Gastaldo and his colleagues examined five fossil specimens. Sanphodiacaulis densifolia.

The fossil was excavated from the Sanford Quarry, part of the Albert Formation in New Brunswick, Canada.

“These fossils were preserved when an earthquake destroyed trees and other vegetation along the edge of a rift lake,” Gastaldo said.

“The first fossil wood was unearthed from a quarry about seven years ago, but it contained only one partial sample.”

“It took several years to find four other specimens of the same plant in close spatial proximity.”

“One of the specimens reveals how the leaves separate from the top of the tree, which makes this tree quite unique.”

“This is one of the few preserved trunks with crown leaves still attached in a fossil record spanning more than 400 million years.”

Actual and reconstructed heights and biostratigraphic ranges of Pennsylvanian trees from the Middle Devonian. Image credit: Gastaldo et al., doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2024.01.011.

Sanphodiacaulis densifolia It probably relied on its unusual growth form to maximize the amount of light it could capture and reduce competition with other plants above ground.

This discovery provides important insights into the evolution of plants and arboreal growth, that is, plants that grow to the height of a tree, or at least 4.5 m, at maturity.

They also remind us that throughout the history of life on Earth, there have been trees that look like nothing we've ever seen before.

“We all have a mental concept of what a tree looks like, depending on where we live on the planet, and we all have a vision of something familiar,” Dr. Gastaldo said. Ta.

“The fossils we report are unique and represent some of the strangest growth forms in the history of life.”

“This is an evolutionary experiment during a period of forest plant biodiversity, and it appears to be a short-lived form.”

“The history of life on land consists of plants and animals that are different from those that live today,” he added.

“The evolutionary mechanisms that operated in the distant past allowed organisms to survive for long periods of time, but their shape, morphology, growth structure, and life history followed different trajectories and strategies.”

“Rare and unusual fossils like the New Brunswick tree are just a few examples of failed experiments that have colonized our planet.”

a paper The survey results were published in a magazine current biology.

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Robert A. Gastaldo other. A mysterious fossil plant with a three-dimensional tree-like growth structure from the earliest Carboniferous period in New Brunswick, Canada. current biology, published online on February 2, 2024. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2024.01.011

Source: www.sci.news