TEETH OF NEW SPECIES OF HYBODONTSHARK OF JURASSIC AGE REPORTED

TEETH OF NEW SPECIES OF HYBODONTSHARK OF JURASSIC AGE REPORTED

Context:

The teeth of a new species of hybodontshark of Jurassic age were 1st reported by Jaisalmer by a team of officers from the Geological Survey of India (GSI), Western Region, Jaipur.

About Hybodont sharks:

• Hybodont sharks have been reported for the 1st time on the Jurassic rocks (approximately, between 160 and 168 million years old) of the Jaisalmer region of Rajasthan.
• The Hybodonts, a group of extinct sharks, has been a prominent group of fish in both maritime areas and especially during the Triassic and early Jurassic periods.
• However, hybodont sharks began to decline in maritime areas from the Middle Jurassic onwards until they formed a very small portion of the open-air marine ecosystems.
• Hybodonts finally disappeared at the end of the Cretaceous period 65 million years ago.
• Significantly, the newly acquired dental implants from Jaisalmer represent a new type identified by the research team as Strophodus jaisalmerensis.

Strophodus Type:

• The Strophodus type is 1st identified from the Indian subcontinent and is the only 3rd record from Asia, 2 more from Japan and Thailand.
• The new species was recently added to Shark References.com, an international forum that works in partnership with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the Species Survival Commission (SSC), and Germany.