A NEW species of ancient shark has been discovered and it has characteristics like none before.
The new species is called Strigilodus tollesonae and it has been identified from several small spoon-like teeth found in the Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky.
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The teeth were discovered during an ongoing paleontological resource inventory (PRI) coordinated by Mammoth Cave and the National Park Service (NPS) Paleontology Program, per an October 11 release.
The ancient shark is said to be more closely related to a modern ratfish than other modern sharks.
This is because it is believed to of had wide fins like a stingray and petal-like teeth.
The teeth had a "single rounded curved cusp for clipping and grasping hard shell prey," per the research.
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The side of the tooth that would be on the inside of the mouth was "long with ridges for crushing."
The NPS shared an official release of the groundbreaking findings.
“We are excited to finally announce the discovery of our first new shark species at Mammoth Cave on NFD,” said NPS Superintendent Barclay Trimble, in the release.
“Teams of geologists, paleontologists, park staff, and volunteers have been hard at work deep inside the cave identifying and collecting fossils since the paleontological resources inventory began in 2019.
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“Their important research allows us to better understand the scope, significance, distribution, and management issues associated with the fossil record found within Mammoth Cave.”
Strigilodus tollesonae translates to "Tolleson's Scraper Tooth" – it was named after the Mammoth Cave National Park Guide Kelli Tolleson due to her "outstanding field support."
"Tolleson discovered many important fossil localities through her work and led expeditions to the fossil sites which are limited in accessibility due to the remote and sometimes challenging sections of the cave where the specimens are found," per the NPS release.
"Many of the sites are in areas of low ceilings requiring crawling for long distances on hands and knees, and at times, belly crawling.
"The fossils are commonly located in the cave ceilings or walls which researchers and volunteers carefully collect using small handheld tools."
The researchers also brought shark fossil specialist John-Paul Hodnett of the Maryland-National Capital Parks and Planning Commission on board to help identify the shark fossils.
Hodnett noted it is very exciting to stumble upon many new species in Mammoth Cave - one of the most abundant places for shark fossils.
“I am absolutely amazed at the diversity of sharks we see while exploring the passages that makeup Mammoth Cave,” Hodnett said in a statement.
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“We can hardly move more than a couple of feet as another tooth or spine is spotted in the cave ceiling or wall.
'We are seeing a range of different species of chondrichthyans [cartilaginous fish] that fill a variety of ecological niches, from large predators to tiny little sharks that lived amongst the crinoid [sea lily] forest on the seafloor that was their habitat.”
