New species of ancient "scraper tooth" shark identified at Mammoth Cave in Kentucky
CBSN
A new species of ancient shark was identified by teeth found in a Kentucky national park.
The teeth were found at Mammoth Cave National Park, which encompasses some of the Mammoth Cave, the largest known cave system in the world, according to the National Park Service. A news release from the NPS said that "several small spoon-like teeth were found in a cave wall and ceiling" while paleontologists investigated the area as part of an ongoing paleontological resources inventory conducted by Mammoth Cave and the NPS. The paleontological inventory has been ongoing since 2019, and collects and identifies fossils found inside the cave.
The now-extinct shark was identified as a petalodont, or "petal-toothed," shark, the NPS said, and was "more closely related to a modern ratfish than to other modern sharks and rays." An illustration of the shark shows that it may have had wide fins, almost like a stingray.
