A new shark and ray fauna from the Middle Miocene of Mazan, Vaucluse (southern France) and its importance in interpreting the paleoenvironment of marine deposits in the southern Rhodanian Basin

Abstract

Recent paleontological excavations of the Middle Miocene sandstones (top of the “Schlier” facies) near Mazan, Vaucluse (southern France) uncovered a rich selachian teeth assemblage including 34 shark and ray species. This great diversity of selachian taxa provides new information about the palaeoenvironmental settings of some Middle Miocene deposits in the southern Rhodanian basin. For instance, the co-occurrence of some deepwater Squaliformes and Rajidae with numerous Carcharhiniformes and Myliobatiformes, usually inhabiting the continental shelf, suggests a deepwater deposit inshore, as adjacent to a submarine canyon area.