Paleontologists say they’ve just confirmed the past existence of two new species of prehistoric sharks from fossils unearthed at Mammoth Cave National Park.
Fossil teeth and cartilage collected from a section of the famous cave and another site in northern Alabama were classified as two previously unknown shark species, according to the National Park Service. The new species of sharks were given the scientific names Troglocladodus trimblei and Glikmanius careforum.
The investigation into ancient marine life at Mammoth Cave is part of the Park Service’s Paleontological Resources Inventory (PRI) still underway. Both newly discovered species are in the ctenacanth family of sharks. These extinct sharks had flat or short, stunted noses as opposed to the long, pointed snouts modern shark species are known for, except hammerhead sharks.
Mammoth Cave National Park Superintendent Barclay Trimble discovered the first shark fossil in the cave system when PRI was launched in 2019, the Park Service said. The two new species were identified from fossils located in the Haney, St. Louis, and Ste. Genevieve cave formations of Mammoth Cave.
The newly discovered shark species Troglocladodus trimblei was named in honor of the park superintendent. According to the fossil record, this species was up to 12 feet long.
“Our park team is honored to work alongside the National Park Service Paleontology Program and now the University of Alabama Geological Sciences Department whose coordinated efforts have made this latest announcement possible,” Trimble said in a release.
The second identified species, Glikmanius careforum, is arguably the more significant of the two finds. The discovery of this species “pushes the origins of this ctenacanth back over 50 million years earlier than expected,” Mammoth Cave National Park officials said. Partially complete jaw bones and fossil gills left by the species were discovered and analyzed.
Glikmanius careforum also grew to about the same size, 10 to 12 feet in length.
The discovery of shark bones, gills, cartilage, and teeth from the depths of Mammoth Cave speaks to the antiquity of our 4.5-billion-year-old Earth.
The land where Mammoth Cave is found today was once the bottom of an ancient oceanic waterway that existed some 325 million years ago. That seaway disappeared as Pangea, the most recent supercontinent in the geological record, formed through continental drift.
Paleontologists believe the two shark species recently uncovered in the walls and rocks of the cave system hunted in the shallows close to the shoreline. They are far from the only marine species that plied these extinct waters so long ago.
“At least 70 species of ancient fish have been identified at Mammoth Cave from over 25 caves and cave passages that have been surveyed,” the officials said.
©2023 Public Parks
Park Info
Park Name:
Mammoth Cave National Park
Location:
Kentucky, USA
