THE FIRST FOSSIL RECORD OF THE SAWSHARK PLIOTREMA (PRISTIOPHORIDAE) FROM THE NEOGENE OF THE SOUTH-EASTERN PACIFIC (CHILE)

Authors

  • Maurice Guicharrouse-Vargas Museo Paleontológico de Caldera, Ilustre Municipalidad de Caldera, Chile
  • Jaime A. Villafana Department of Palaeontology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria | Centro de Investigación en Recursos Naturales y Sustentabilidad, Universidad Bernardo O'Higgins, Santiago, Chile https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6441-9025
  • Jorge D. Carrillo-Briceño Paläontologisches Institut und Museum, Universität Zürich, Zurich, Switzerland
  • Pablo Oyanadel-Urbina Centro de Estudios Avanzados en Zonas Áridas (CEAZA), Coquimbo, Chile
  • Romina Figueroa Museo Paleontológico de Caldera, Ilustre Municipalidad de Caldera, Chile
  • José R. Pérez-Marín Oficina Técnica Regional del Consejo de Monumentos Nacionales en Magallanes, Punta Arenas, Chile
  • Marcelo M. Rivadeneira Centro de Estudios Avanzados en Zonas Áridas (CEAZA), Coquimbo, Chile. Departamento de Biología Marina, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad Católica del Norte, Coquimbo, Chile. Departamento de Biología, Universidad de La Serena, La Serena, Chile.
  • Jürgen Kriwet Department of Palaeontology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5710/AMGH.01.03.2021.3389

Keywords:

Bahía Inglesa Formation, South America, Chile, Elasmobranchii, Pristiophoridae

Abstract

We present the first fossil record of the sawshark genus Pliotrema from the south-eastern Pacific Ocean. The examined material was obtained from a little-known fossil locality named “Arenas de Caldera” in the Atacama region of Chile. The fossiliferous deposits belong to the Bahía Inglesa Formation, which is most likely middle Miocene–early Pliocene in age. There are no extant species of this sawfish in the eastern Pacific, probably due to the onset of cooling conditions during the Neogene. The type of environment for the elasmobranchs reported in this study is interpreted as demersal, based on the bathymetric affinities of extant species. Our results show that future studies are needed to better understand the evolutionary history and past distributions of this sawshark genus and their implications on current biogeographic patterns.

Author Biography

  • Jaime A. Villafana, Department of Palaeontology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria | Centro de Investigación en Recursos Naturales y Sustentabilidad, Universidad Bernardo O'Higgins, Santiago, Chile

    PhD candidate in Natural Sciencies at University of Vienna

Additional Files

Published

2021-04-30

Issue

Vol. 58 No. 2 (2021)

Section

Articles

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How to Cite

THE FIRST FOSSIL RECORD OF THE SAWSHARK PLIOTREMA (PRISTIOPHORIDAE) FROM THE NEOGENE OF THE SOUTH-EASTERN PACIFIC (CHILE). (2021). Ameghiniana, 58(2), 122–131. https://doi.org/10.5710/AMGH.01.03.2021.3389

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