Palaeospinax egertoni

Woodward, 1889


Classification: Elasmobranchii Synechodontiformes Palaeospinacidae

Reference of the original description
Woodward, A.S. (1889)
Catalogue of the fossil fishes in the British Museum. Part. I. British Museum (Natural History): 474 p., fig., 17 pl.

Types
Palaeospinax egertoni
Holotype: NHMUK: PV P 1132;


Description:


Citation: Palaeospinax egertoni Woodward, 1889: In: Database of fossil elasmobranch teeth www.shark-references.com, World Wide Web electronic publication, Version 12/2024

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Description
Original description of Woodward, 1889 [2593]:
1873. Palaeospinax (?), Sir P. Egerton, Figs. & Descrips. Brit. Organic Remains (Mom. Cool. Suit.), doc. xiii. no. vii. p. 3.
Type. Crushed head, teeth, and vertebrae; British Museum. the unique specimen mentioned below may be referred with much probability to the genus Palaeospinax, and indicates a larger spe-cies than P. priscus, characterized by the relatively greater breadth of the median cone in the anterior teeth, and the smooth- ness of the shagreen-granules, of which the margins are sometimes so much indented as to give them a stellate appearance. Form. Loc. Lower Lias: Würtemberg.
P. 1132. A vertically crushed head and the anterior portion of the vertebral column, with shagreen, a few prehensile teeth, and a displaced cartilage, to be regarded ei-ther as the left mandibular or ceratohyal; Ohmden, Würtemberg. The head must have been originally at least 0-075 in length, and the snout is obtusely rounded. The anterior teeth are quite smooth, showing only the slightest traces of vertical wrinkles at the base, and the medi-an cone is relatively broad, gradually tapering to a very sharp point; a single prominent broad lateral denticle occurs on each side. The shagreen-granules are largest towards the end of the snout, smooth, and more or less quadrate, but often deeply indented on two or more borders, thus assuming an almost stellate appearance. On the right side, immediately behind the head, four or five faint transverse grooves in the shagreen-investment appear to mark the gill-slits, diminishing in size backwards. Egerton Coll. A fragmentary example of Palaeospinax from the Lias of Holzmaden, Würtemberg, now in the Stuttgart Museum, seems to differ from both of the described species. Detached teeth and dorsal fin- spines of an undetermined species have also been discovered in the Rhaetic of Holwell Frome, Somersetshire (Moore Collec-tion, Bath Museum).

Remarks
shark-references Species-ID=4591;
valid after Woodward (1889) p. 324 [2593];

References
Maisey, J.G. (1977)
The fossil selachian fishes Palaeospinax EGERTON, 1872 and Nemacanthus AGASSIZ, 1837. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 60(3), 259–273
DOI: 10.1111/j.1096-3642.1977.tb01029.x
Reif, W.-E. (1974)
Metopacanthus sp. (Holocephali) und Palaeospinax egertoni S. Woodward (Selachii) aus dem unteren Toarcium von Holzmaden. Stuttgarter Beiträge zur Naturkunde, Serie B, 10, 1–9
Woodward, A.S. (1889)
Catalogue of the fossil fishes in the British Museum. Part. I. British Museum (Natural History): 474 p., fig., 17 pl.