Neoselachians from the Upper Campanian and Lower Maastrichtian (Upper Cretaceous) of the Southern Pyrenees, northern Spain

Abstract

Bulk sampling of upper Campanian to lower– middle Maastrichtian coastal and lagoonal deposits in five sections of the Tremp Formation in the south-central Pyrenees yielded numerous neoselachian teeth. The fauna comprises nine taxa of which three species and one genus are new: Hemiscyllium sp., Lamniformes indet., Paratrygonorrhina amblysoda gen. et sp. nov., Coupatezia trempina sp. nov., Coupatezia sp., Coupatezia? sp., Rhombodus ibericus sp. nov. and Igdabatis indicus. The neoselachian fauna is dominated by small nectobenthic rays. This composition resembles assemblages known from the marine Upper Cretaceous, but differs from nearby localities of the Basque-Cantabrian region and continental selachian associations of the French Pyrenees. The results indicate that Rhombodus might not be a reliable biostratigraphic marker for the Maastrichtian. The faunal composition suggests a shallow trans-Tethyan connection between Eurasia and India at the end of the Cretaceous Period.