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Showing results for tags 'ptychodus'.
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Today a study was published on many exceptional body fossils of the durophagous shark Ptychodus, revealing it to be a lamniform - the same order as the great white, megalodon, etc. For a long time this shark's taxonomic placement was uncertain. The authors also conclude it was a high-speed predator that preferred animals like turtles and ammonites for prey rather than benthic mollusks and crustaceans. Vullo R et al. 2024. Exceptionally preserved shark fossils from Mexico elucidate the long-standing enigma of the Cretaceous elasmobranch Ptychodus. Proc. R. Soc. B 291: 20240262. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2024.0262 Figure 6. Life reconstruction of the tachypelagic lamniform shark Ptychodus in the early Turonian open marine environment of Vallecillo. Two individuals are shown preying on nektonic shelled organisms (i.e. an ammonite and a sea turtle) in a trophic hotspot. Artwork by Frederik Spindler. Figure 1. Fully articulated Ptychodus specimens from the early Late Cretaceous (Turonian) of Vallecillo showing the general morphology and anatomy of the genus. (a,b) Photograph (a) and interpretative line drawing (b) of MMSP CPC 3063, adult specimen of Ptychodus sp. (c,d) Photograph (c) and interpretative line drawing (d) of MMSP CPC 3064, juvenile specimen of Ptychodus sp. All to the same scale. Figure 3. Anatomical details of Ptychodus. (a) Scleral capsule showing tesserae, specimen MUDE CPC 3065. (b) Portion of articulated dentition, specimen MMSP CPC 3063. (c) Close-up on two teeth of the lower dentition (box in (b)), specimen MMSP CPC 3063. (d) Precaudal vertebral centrum showing parallel lamellae (white arrow), specimen MMSP CPC 3067. (e) precaudal vertebral centra and muscle remains (well-preserved myomeres plus scattered isolated myofibres), specimen MMSP CPC 3067. (f) Close-up on muscle tissues (box in (e)) showing myospeta (white arrows) and myomeres composed of myofibres (black arrows), specimen MMSP CPC 3067. (g) First dorsal fin, specimen MMSP CPC 3063. (h) Pectoral fin, specimen MMSP CPC 3063. (i) Tail portion showing second dorsal fin (white arrow indicating its origin), anal fin (black arrow indicating its origin) and proximal caudal fin skeleton, specimen MMSP CPC 3063. Figure 4. Cladogram (strict consensus tree estimated from the 6349 most parsimonious trees) showing the placement of Ptychodus within Elasmobranchii. Numbers in nodes follow the arrangement ‘node number: jackknife support/Bremer support’. Clades of interest for the relations of Ptychodus are colour coded.
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- lamniform
- lamniformes
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New Ptychodus Species (pending) - Likely 150 Associated Teeth
LSCHNELLE posted a topic in Fossil Hunting Trips
Back on October 2017, I was hunting a Texas creek after a flood event and found a nice slab of shark's teeth. I took my wife Susie back to check out the area better. We went upstream to locate where the slab had washed down from. We found a matching location where the teeth had come out of the Eagle Ford formation in a shell hash pocket. The final size of this area was about 1 ft by 2 ft by 2 inches thick. We captured the remaining shell hash matrix in bags and took it home. Over the next few weeks, we used dilute white vinegar solution and ice picks to extract 150+ of these 4 mm to 15 mm wide Ptychodus teeth from matrix. My wife pulled out maybe 60 to 80 of them. In October 2018 communications with Shawn Hamm, I found out that the largest of these teeth were likely from a new Ptychodus species that Shawn was hoping to do a paper on. I then sent 40 of these teeth to Shawn. One month ago, I was contacted by Shawn to donate any more teeth that I was willing to give up for a new professional paper on that species (finally!). I went back through the remaining teeth (now in two clear plastic cylindrical containers) and other fossils from the pocket. I also gave him some of my best of these teeth found from other shell hash pockets nearby. I noted amazingly that over 95% of the remaining 110+ Ptychodus teeth had characteristics of the new species and that there were five different tooth file sets represented. I immediately sent them to Shawn along with other representative shark species. So, he may now have the first associated set of those teeth to study for his paper from the 2018 and 2024 donations. You just never know when an old fossil hunting trip can breath new life into the fossil record and a new understanding. My ignorance of Ptychodus matters in 2017 was replaced by mature knowledge in 2024 that subsequently opened my "eyes" to something I would have never seen before 2024. So, I recommend looking back at your old finds to hunt for new things you might now be able to see with your more mature set of "eyes"!- 5 replies
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- associated teeth
- Middle Turonian
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From the album: Sharks
A rather cool association piece - a Cretodus with a Ptychodus nestled between the root lobes. -
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Shark Ptychodus whipplei Eagle Ford Formation
JamieLynn posted a gallery image in Member Collections
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From the album: Texas Cretaceous Fossils : Sharks and Rays
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From the album: Eagle Ford Group
Ptychodus decurrens, South TX Cenomanian, Cretaceous Apr, 2024 Today I found my first Ptychodus/Eagle Ford site of South TX! The outcrop is pretty tiny, but there were some shark teeth to be had. The fauna included Ptychodus decurrens, Carcharias saskatchewanensis, Squalicorax sp., and Haimirichia amonensis. -
From the album: Neutache Shoreline
My best preserved whipplei tooth. Interesting pattern is visible under microscope: #VM2 3/10/24© CC BY-NC
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From the album: Neutache Shoreline
Q4 2023 My largest ptychodus tooth to date, found in glacial deposits in E KS© CC BY-NC
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Hi guys my names Conley. My kids and I live in SE Colorado and have been digging and finding sharks teeth and various other fossils. Since we started looking 4 years ago we have found 300 teeth in a 1 acre spot. Some of the other fossils we have found we are not real sure what they have came from.
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From the album: Texas Cenomanian (Cretaceous)
Ptychodus occidentalis Uppermost middle Cenomanian Texas My most spectacular Ptychodus tooth, which I almost didn't find. I was finishing the day, and then decided to remove one last slab of sandstone before moving on. It is a decently sized tooth for the species, at 22 mm (0.87 inches) tall and 19 mm (0.75 inches) wide.- 3 comments
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- cenomanian
- ptychodus
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From the album: Texas Coniacian (Cretaceous)
Ptychodus whipplei Coniacian Texas -
From the album: Custom Fossil Displays
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From the album: Texas Turonian Ptychodus Teeth
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- eagle ford shale
- ptychodus
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From the album: Texas Turonian Ptychodus Teeth
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- eagle ford shale
- ptychodus
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From the album: Texas Turonian Ptychodus Teeth
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- eagle ford shale
- ptychodus
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From the album: Texas Turonian (Cretaceous)
Ptychodus marginalis Likely Turonian Texas A massive P. marginalis tooth found in float. This is my largest Ptychodus tooth find to date. Though badly worn and found in float, odds are overwhelmingly in favor of Turonian (as opposed to cenomanian) age for this specimen.- 3 comments
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- eagle ford
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From the album: Texas Coniacian (Cretaceous)
Ptychodus whipplei Coniacian Texas Found in float, but definitely originating in the Atco member of the the Austin Chalk -
From the album: Texas Coniacian (Cretaceous)
Ptychodus cf. latissimus Coniacian Texas-
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- atco
- p. latissimus
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From the album: Texas Coniacian (Cretaceous)
Ptychodus mortoni tooth Coniacian Texas -
Hello, my friends. This tooth was found in Ternopil region of Ukraine. Cenomanian stage
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Hi all - found a small outcrop in an area mapped as “Eagle Ford Group and Buda Limestone undivided.” I filled a plastic bag with crumbly matrix and have so far found 2 Ptychodus teeth amongst other shark and fish teeth and fragments. Can anyone help narrow down an ID on these two? I’ve also included a photo of some of the matrix I gathered. Curious if anyone can tell the age or more details based on its appearance and the IDs of these teeth. Thanks!
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- cretaceous
- eagle ford
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From the album: Texas Cretaceous Fossils : Sharks and Rays
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Shark Ptychodus mortoni Austin Chalk Formation
JamieLynn posted a gallery image in Member Collections
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From the album: Texas Cretaceous Fossils : Sharks and Rays
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- austin chalk formation
- cretaceous
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I took off yesterday morning and drove to a Grayson County creek, one of my previous hunted and favorite spots. It was my first fossil hunting trip since early in the year. I haven't posted here since October of last year, and had made only a couple of trips where I didn't find much since then. And, truth be told, when I'm not hunting, I'm not browsing the forum either, hence my long absence. The multiple meniscus tears in my left knee finally became too much to allow for hiking creeks, so I stopped hunting. I finally had knee surgery May 2nd, but have not been able to kneel on that knee again until very recently. The past few weeks, I have felt like that, with a bit of extra padding, I could use my knee pads again, but with daily temperatures from 105 to 110 degrees, I have just not been willing to fossil hunt. Finally, yesterday was cooler, so off I went. Here are some in situ photos. That first photo has two teeth.
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- eagle ford
- gastropod
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From the album: Grayson County Creek - August 29th
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From the album: Grayson County Creek - August 29th
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