fossil sharks and rays from the Cretaceous of The Netherlands

- sharks -

  (this page is best viewed with a 800x600 resolution or higher) © 2004-2017 J. Bastiaansen

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The photos on this page are all fossils from my private collection, found by myself during many visits to the Limburg-area in the SE part of the Netherlands.

Squalidae Squatinidae Heterodontidae Ginglymostomatidae Odontaspididae Mitsukurinidae
Cretoxyrhinidae Serratolamnidae Anacoracidae Scyliorhinidae Triakidae Synechodontidae




fossil Squalidae (Dogfish Sharks)

Centrophoroides appendiculatus (Agassiz 1843)
from left to right:
anterior to lateral teeth of
Centrophoroides appendiculatus
height of left tooth = 3,5 mm

ENCI-quarry near Maastricht /
Lichtenberg horizon
photo: sharkteeth centrophoroides (jpeg)
photo: sharkteeth centrophoroides (jpeg)
 Occurence: abundant
 Centrophoroides appendiculatus is the most common species in the Lichtenberg-horizon
 (60% of the teeth in this horizon belongs to this species !)

 Due to the small size of these teeth bulk sampling collecting methods are required to collect them.

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fossil Squatinidae (Angel Sharks)

Squatina hassei (Leriche 1929)
tooth of
Squatina hassei
height of tooth = 2,5 mm

ENCI-quarry near Maastricht /
Lichtenberg horizon
photo: sharktooth squatina (jpeg) photo: sharktooth squatina (jpeg) photo: sharktooth squatina (jpeg)
photo: sharktooth squatina (jpeg) photo: sharktooth squatina (jpeg)
 Occurence: relatively rare

 Due to the small size of these teeth bulk sampling collecting methods are required to collect them.

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fossil Heterodontidae (Bullhead and Horn Sharks)

Heterodontidae have, as the name implies, a strong heterodont dentition (the teeth have different shapes depending on position in the jaw).
  • anterior teeth consists of a central cusp with short lateral cusplets on each side; crown faces are smooth:
  • lateral teeth are larger, are shaped more or less rectangular with rounded edges, and have low crowns without a cusp or cusplets. The crown surface has a clear longitudinal central ridge with smaller, transversal branching ridges
For an example, see the photograph of the dentition of a recent Heterodontus at the right.

from: "Sharks of the world" - Rodney Steel (1992)

Recent Heterodontidae are bottom-dwellers, using their dentition to crush the tests of crabs, mollusks and sea-urchins. Heterodontidae are known since the Jurassic and are in the Maastrichtian of the Netherlands represented by the species Heterodontus rugosis .

Heterodontus rugosis (Agassiz 1843)
symphysial (left) and
anterior teeth (middle and right) of
Heterodontus rugosis
height of left tooth = 4 mm

ENCI-quarry near Maastricht /
Lichtenberg horizon
photo: sharkteeth heterodontus (jpeg)
photo: sharkteeth heterodontus (jpeg)
photo: sharkteeth heterodontus (jpeg)

small antero-lateral tooth of a juvenile
Heterodontus rugosis
length of tooth = 3,5 mm

ENCI-quarry near Maastricht /
Lichtenberg horizon
photo: sharktooth heterodontus (jpeg) photo: sharktooth heterodontus (jpeg)
photo: sharktooth heterodontus (jpeg) photo: sharktooth heterodontus (jpeg)


This tooth is a nice example of socalled "ontogenic heterodonty"
(= different tooth shapes in juvenile and adult individuals)
Compare this tooth with the adult antero-lateral below

antero-lateral tooth of
Heterodontus rugosis
length of tooth = 9 mm

quarry 't Rooth near Cadier en Keer /
Nekum limestone
photo: sharktooth heterodontus (jpeg) photo: sharktooth heterodontus (jpeg)

large lateral tooth of
Heterodontus rugosis
length of tooth = 15 mm

ENCI-quarry near Maastricht /
Lichtenberg horizon
photo: sharktooth heterodontus (jpeg)
photo: sharktooth heterodontus (jpeg)
 Occurence: common

 However the laterals can be found with "normal" collecting, bulk sampling collecting methods are required to collect the smaller anteriors.

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fossil Ginglymostomatidae (nurse sharks)

Plicatoscyllium minutum (Forir 1887)
anterior tooth of Plicatoscyllium minutum
height = 6,5 mm

ENCI-quarry near Maastricht / Lichtenberg horizon
photo: sharktooth plicatoscyllium (jpeg) photo: sharktooth plicatoscyllium (jpeg)
photo: sharktooth plicatoscyllium (jpeg) photo: sharktooth plicatoscyllium (jpeg)

 Occurence: less common

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fossil Odontaspididae (Sand Sharks)

Palaeohypotodus bronni (Agassiz 1843)
anterior tooth of
Palaeohypotodus bronni
height = 27 mm

ENCI-quarry near Maastricht /
Lichtenberg horizon
photo: sharktooth palaeohypotodus (jpeg) photo: sharktooth palaeohypotodus (jpeg) photo: sharktooth palaeohypotodus (jpeg)
lateral tooth of
Palaeohypotodus bronni
height = 15 mm

ENCI-quarry near Maastricht /
Lichtenberg horizon
photo: sharktooth palaeohypotodus (jpeg) photo: sharktooth palaeohypotodus (jpeg)
anterior tooth of a juvenile
Palaeohypotodus bronni
height = 13 mm

ENCI-quarry near Maastricht /
Lichtenberg horizon
photo: sharktooth palaeohypotodus (jpeg) photo: sharktooth palaeohypotodus (jpeg)

Some teeth of Palaeohypotodus show small vertical ridges only at the base of the crown (labial side).
This is especially visible in teeth of juveniles and seems to disappear in teeth of adult specimen.
Example: anterior tooth of a juvenile specimen of Palaeohypotodus bronni (height = 13 mm)


 Occurence: common

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fossil Mitsukurinidae (Goblin Sharks)

Anomotodon plicatus (Arambourg 1952)
photo: sharktooth anomotodon (jpeg) photo: sharktooth anomotodon (jpeg)
anterior tooth of Anomotodon plicatus
height = 9 mm

ENCI-quarry near Maastricht / Lichtenberg horizon

 Occurence: less common

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Cretoxyrhinidae (extinct)

Archaeolamna kopingensis (Davis 1890)
lateral tooth of
Archaeolamna kopingensis
height of tooth = 12.5 mm

ENCI-quarry near Maastricht /
Lichtenberg horizon
photo: sharktooth archaeolamna (jpeg) photo: sharktooth archaeolamna (jpeg)
 Archaeolamna kopingensis : formerly referred to as Plicatolamna arcuata (Woodward, 1894) .
 Read more details on elasmo.com (look at: "faunas / North Carolina - Cretaceous")

 Occurence: less common

Cretalamna appendiculata (Agassiz 1843)
tooth of
Cretalamna appendiculata
height of tooth = 23 mm

Morocco
photo: sharktooth cretalamna (jpeg) photo: sharktooth cretalamna (jpeg)

 Occurence: Cretalamna appendiculata is not rare in the Maastricht area.
 (Unfortunately I haven't any proper specimen available in my collection, for this reason I included pictures of a Moroccan specimen)

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Serratolamnidae (extinct)

Serratolamna serrata (Agassiz 1843)
lateral tooth of
Serratolamna serrata
height of tooth = 11 mm

ENCI-quarry near Maastricht /
Lichtenberg horizon
photo: sharktooth serratolamna (jpeg) photo: sharktooth serratolamna (jpeg)

 Occurence: less common

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Anacoracidae (extinct)

Pseudocorax affinis (Agassiz 1843)
anterior tooth of Pseudocorax affinis
height = 16 mm

ENCI-quarry near Maastricht / Lichtenberg horizon
photo: sharktooth pseudocorax (jpeg) photo: sharktooth pseudocorax (jpeg)
lateral teeth of Pseudocorax affinis
height of left tooth = 11 mm

ENCI-quarry near Maastricht / Lichtenberg horizon
photo: sharktooth pseudocorax (jpeg)
photo: sharktooth pseudocorax (jpeg)

 Occurence: common

Squalicorax pristodontus (Agassiz 1843)
lateral tooth of
Squalicorax pristodontus
height = 21 mm

Albert-canal near
Vroenhoven (Maastricht) /
top of Meerssen limestone
photo: sharktooth squalicorax (jpeg) photo: sharktooth squalicorax (jpeg)

 Occurence: less common

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fossil Scyliorhinidae (Cat Sharks)

Van der Brugghen, Quack-Pottenboom and Odé reported the occurence of Scyliorhinidae in the Lichtenberg-horizon, together with a method to collect them. Due to the very small size of these teeth (1 mm and smaller) I have no material available in my collection.

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fossil Triakidae (Leopard Sharks)

Palaeogaleus faujasi (van de Geyn 1937)
anterior teeth of
Palaeogaleus faujasi
height of right tooth = 3,5 mm

ENCI-quarry near Maastricht /
Lichtenberg horizon
photo: sharkteeth palaeogaleus (jpeg) photo: sharkteeth palaeogaleus (jpeg)
lateral teeth of
Palaeogaleus faujasi
height of left tooth = 4 mm

ENCI-quarry near Maastricht /
Lichtenberg horizon
photo: sharkteeth palaeogaleus (jpeg) photo: sharkteeth palaeogaleus (jpeg)
photo: sharkteeth palaeogaleus (jpeg)
 Occurence: abundant
 Palaeogaleus faujasi is, together with Centrophoroides appendiculatus, one of the most common species in the Lichtenberg-horizon
 (> 10% of the sharkteeth in this horizon)

 Due to the small size of these teeth bulk sampling collecting methods are required to collect them.

Galeorhinus girardoti (Herman 1977)
tooth of
Galeorhinus girardoti
width of tooth = 4 mm

ENCI-quarry near Maastricht /
Lichtenberg horizon
photo: sharktooth galeorhinus (jpeg) photo: sharktooth galeorhinus (jpeg)
 Occurence: less common

 Due to the small size of these teeth bulk sampling collecting methods are required to collect them.

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fossil Synechodontidae (extinct)

Synechodus lerichei (Herman 1977)
tooth of
Synechodus cf. lerichei
height = 7 mm

ENCI-quarry near Maastricht /
Lichtenberg horizon
photo: sharktooth synechodus (jpeg) photo: sharktooth synechodus (jpeg)

 Occurence: rare

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Last updated September 7th, 2006