65-million-year-old fossil of new shark species discovered in Alabama
Shark teeth fossils were used to identify an extinct species of shark that likely resembled the Sand Tiger Shark and preyed the waters that once covered the southern half of Alabama after the dinosaurs. (contributed)
Not long after the dinosaurs went extinct, a shark with “fangs” on its already razor-sharp teeth was a leading predator in the waters that covered the lower half of Alabama 65 million years ago.
That’s the findings of a team of scientists who believe sharks teeth discovered in a fossil in Alabama’s Black Belt a century ago belonged to a new species of shark.
The team is led by Jun Ebersole, director of collections at Birmingham’s McWane Science Center; David Cicimurri, curator of Natural History at the South Carolina State Museum; and T. Lynn Harrell Jr., paleontologist and Fossil Collections curator at the Geological Survey of Alabama in Tuscaloosa.
“A few years ago, I was looking through the historical fossil collections at the Geological Survey in Alabama and came across a small box of shark teeth that were collected over 100 years ago in Wilcox County,” Ebersole said. “Having documented hundreds of fossil fish species over the last decade, I found it puzzling that these teeth were from a shark that I didn’t recognize.”
RELATED: Birmingham’s McWane Science Center announces two new fossil shark discoveries
The shark is a new species of Palaeohypotodus (pronounced pale-ee-oh-hype-oh-toe-duss), which means “ancient small-eared tooth,” in reference to the small needle-like fangs present on the sides of the teeth. Known as lateral cusplets, sharks that exist today with similar teeth eat mostly bony fish, crustaceans and squids. The researchers believe the shark would have resembled the modern-day Sand Tiger Shark, at least in its snout. The body of the shark is hard to determine, but it could have been up to 10 feet in length like the Sand Tiger Shark.
The new species has been named Palaeohypotodus bizzocoi for the late Dr. Bruce Bizzoco (1949-2022) of Birmingham. Bizzoco, an archaeologist, served as a dean at Shelton State Community College and was a longtime volunteer at McWane Science Center. The naming of this species honors Bizzoco’s lifelong commitments to education and the preservation of Alabama’s history.
One previous species discovery was named for the family of legendary Alabama football coach Paul “Bear” Bryant. Another was named for a beloved education volunteer at McWane and other Birmingham area-organizations.
One of the more interesting determinations about the new sharks is the period when it existed.
“Perhaps one of the coolest aspects of this shark is when it lived – the Paleocene, approximately 65 million years ago,” Cicimurri said. “This is the time period from just after the death of the dinosaurs, where over 75% of life on Earth went extinct.”
Cicimurri believes the shark was a leading predator during the time when the oceans were recovering.
The lower half of Alabama was covered by a shallow tropical to subtropical ocean during the Paleocene, which is why the fossils were found so far inland.
“This time period is understudied, which makes the discovery of this new shark species that much more significant,” Harrell said.
“Shark discoveries like this one give us tremendous insights into how ocean life recovers after major extinction events and also allows us to potentially forecast how global events, like climate change, affect marine life today,” Harrell continued.
Previous discoveries have placed shark species during the Ice Age.
The team compared the fossil teeth to those of various living sharks, like Great Whites and Makos. According to Cicimurri, shark teeth differ in shape depending on where they are located in the mouth.
“By studying the jaws and teeth of living sharks, it allowed us to reconstruct the dentition of this ancient species and showed that it had a tooth arrangement that differed from any living shark,” Cicimurri said.
RELATED: Alabama scientist leads study revealing hidden secrets of Atlantic sharpnose sharks
The naming of this shark is part of an ongoing project led by Ebersole and Cicimurri to document Alabama’s fossil fishes. Together, they have confirmed more than 400 unique species of fossil sharks and bony fishes, which, according to Ebersole, makes Alabama one of the richest places in the world in terms of fossil fish diversity.
The study, “A new species Palaeohypotodus Glickman, 1964 (Chondrichthyes, Lamniformes) from the lower Paleocene (Danian) Porters Creek Formation, Wilcox County, Alabama, USA,” was published today in the open access journal Fossil Record.
