Two new species of pseudaetobatus cappetta, 1986 (Batoidei: Myliobatidae) from the southeastern United States

Abstract

Two new species of the myliobatid ray Pseudaetobatus Cappetta, 1986 are described from Eocene localities in three different states within the southeastern United States. Pseudaetobatus belli sp. nov. was recovered from south Alabama and southeast Mississippi from units within the lower Eocene portion of the Tallahatta Formation, as well as older strata of the underlying Hatchetigbee Formation. This species differs from the type species, P. casieri Cappetta, 1986, in that teeth are larger in overall size, and distal-most lateral teeth are less wide and have a shorter, less pronounced distal projection but more sharply basally curved margin. Pseudaetobatus undulates sp. nov. occurs within the upper Eocene Dry Branch Formation of south-central South Carolina, and this species is easily distinguished from P. casieri and P. belli sp. nov. By distal-most lateral teeth that are conspicuously sinuous in labial and lingual views. In addition to possessing features unique to each species, both P. belli sp. nov. and P. undulatus sp. nov. possess an additional lateral tooth morphology that is unknown in the type species. These new specimens significantly extend the paleogeographic distribution of Pseudaetobatus, and the genus is now known to occur virtually throughout the entire Eocene.