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.