SkaTES, RAYS and FISH

 

EXTINCT SAWFISH
Ptychotrygon vermiculata (Cappetta )
Ptychotrygon cuspidata (Cappetta & Case)

Age  Cretaceous - Occurrence  Common

( Common terms for ray teeth )

Case and Cappetta¹ report two species of Ptychotrygon as being found in New Jersey, P. vermiculata and P. cuspidata. These teeth are small, averaging between 2 – 5 mm in width and rather distinct. The crowns are laterally expanded with a transverse crest or cutting edge and a  strong labial visor. The roots have a strong nutrient grove with a central foramen. There is a lateral foramen on the lingual face of each lobe. When viewed from the bottom, the roots are triangular in shape. The difference between the two species is most apparent in the crown.  P. cuspidata has a higher crown and lacks the extra transverse ridges of P. vermiculata. P. cuspidata has a more ornate crown that is best described as a series of bumps and wrinkles. There are no rostral spines attributed to the genus Ptychotrygon.

The teeth of the extinct sawfish are small, averaging between
2 to 5 mm across.
Monmouth County, NJ
 

The roots of Ptychotrygon have a lateral a lateral foramen on the lingual face
of each lobe (left) and a central foramen in the nutrient grove (right).
There is a a depression on the lingual face of the crown (blue arrow).

 

The triangular root lobe and strong nutrient grove.
 

Left - Ptychotrygon vermiculata has a series of transverse ridges
and a low crown
Right - Ptychotrygon cuspidata has a high and crown. The lower
portion of the crown is highly ornate.
 

Ptychotrygon vermiculata - lingual view Low crown

Ptychotrygon cuspidata -  lingual view High Crown

Ptychotrygon cuspidata - occlusal view
The ornamentation on the labial visor (bottom of picture)
 

A random sample under a microscope.
A good portion of these teeth have some sort of root damage.
 

Author’s note: I’ve examined a significant number of specimens from New Jersey and found that while a number of teeth where easy to attribute to either P. vermiculata or P. cuspidata the vast majority seemed to fall into a vast no mans land between the two species. I could not assign these teeth to either species with any degree of certainty.

1.  Case, G., and H. Cappetta, 2004. Additions to the elasmobranch fauna from the Late Cretaceous of New Jersey (Lower Navesink Formation, Early Maastrichtian). Palaeovertebrata 33

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