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. © 2007 The Palaeontological Association.