Catshark
Scyliorhinus (Blainville)

Age - Lower Cretaceous - Recent   Commonality - Uncommon

  The genus Scyliorhinus belongs to the family Scyliorhinidae, commonly known as the catshark. Currently little is known about Scyliorhinus from the Cretaceous of New Jersey, and to the best of my knowledge has not been previously been reported from here. These teeth are small, less than 5 mm in length (under ¼ inch) requiring the use of a fine mesh screen for collecting. The crown is narrow with one or more lateral cusplets (anterior teeth may lack cusplets). The labial face of the crown overhangs the root and shows strong folds at the base. The root is bulky and seems to vary considerably. There is a good deal of similarity between Scyliorhinus sp. and the larger Protolamna borodini. 

 


 

Scyliorhinus sp. Plate 1.
Strong strong folds at the base of the crown are present on
all species of Scyliorhinus .

Monmouth County, NJ

Identification by Earl Manning
 


 

Scyliorhinus teeth are small, usually less than 5 mm or 1/4 inch.

 


 

Comparison of Protolamna borodini (Left) and
Scyliorhinus (Right).
Both have strong folds at the base of the crown, on Scyliorhinus the crown
 is narrow and overhangs the root with multiple cusplets.
 



 


This is pretty much my whole collection.

 


 


I suspect there are several species present in the New Jersey
Cretaceous but will leave that to someone with more expertise.

 

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