Diversity Patterns of Late Jurassic Chondrichthyans: New Insights from a Historically Collected Hybodontiform Tooth Assemblage from Poland

Here, we provide a detailed taxonomic reassessment of a historically collected chondrichthyan dental assemblage from the lower Kimmeridgian of Czarnogłowy in north-western Poland and discuss its significance for better understanding hybodontiform diversity patterns prior to their post-Jurassic decli...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Sebastian Stumpf, Stefan Meng, Jürgen Kriwet
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2022-01-01
Series:Diversity
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/1424-2818/14/2/85
Description
Summary:Here, we provide a detailed taxonomic reassessment of a historically collected chondrichthyan dental assemblage from the lower Kimmeridgian of Czarnogłowy in north-western Poland and discuss its significance for better understanding hybodontiform diversity patterns prior to their post-Jurassic decline in fully marine environments. In spite of its low taxonomic diversity, consisting of four large-toothed taxa (viz., <i>Strophodus udulfensis</i>, <i>Asteracanthus ornatissimus</i>, <i>Planohybodus</i> sp. and cf. <i>Meristodonoides</i> sp.), this assemblage is remarkable in that there are only very few Mesozoic hybodontiform assemblages with more large-toothed genera or even species. Comparisons with other European Late Jurassic hybodontiform-bearing localities demonstrate fairly homogenous distribution patterns characterized by large-bodied epipelagic forms of high dispersal ability. This is in stark contrast to post-Jurassic hybodontiform associations, which are dominated by smaller species that were predominantly bound to marginal marine and continental waters, suggesting a major reorganization of chondrichthyan communities during the Early Cretaceous.
ISSN:1424-2818