bite marks; morderolite; Neogene; trophic interaction; white shark tooth; Seal calcaneum
Abstract :
[en] There are now many examples in the fossil record of shark bite marks preserved on biogenic materials including coprolites, ammonoids, sea star ossicles, an echinoid, and bone and calcified cartilage. These exceptional fossils document evidence of exploratory behavior, active predation, and/or scavenging. However, only a small subset report on the presence of shark teeth embedded in fossilized bone or cartilage. Although a few shark tooth-marked seal bones are known from the fossil record, no direct evidence of predation or scavenging in the form of a shark tooth embedded in a fossil seal bone has yet been documented. Herein, we describe the first shark tooth embedded in a seal (Phocidae Gray, 1821) bone, a calcaneum (CMM-V-6964), that was surface collected in Mosaic’s South Fort Meade Mine, Hardee County, Fort Meade, Florida, United States. The isolated bone originated from within the Bone Valley Member of the Peace River Formation (Hawthorn Group). The partial tooth is identified as having come from an Early Pliocene great white shark, Carcharodon carcharias (Linnaeus, 1758). This discovery also represents the first C. carcharias tooth ever found embedded in a fossil bone. The embedded tooth may have come about as a result of active predation or scavenging. The extant macropredatory sharks, Carcharodon carcharias (great white shark), Notorynchus cepedianus (Péron, 1807) (sevengill shark), Somniosus microcephalus (Bloch & Schneider, 1801) (the Greenland shark), and Somniosus antarcticus Whitley, 1939 (sleeper shark), are known to actively prey upon seals (Pinnipedia Illiger, 1811). If this peculiar fossil association resulted from active predation, the seal did not survive the encounter because there is no evidence of healing in the area around the embedded shark tooth.
Disciplines :
Earth sciences & physical geography
Author, co-author :
Godfrey, Stephen J.; Department of Paleontology, Calvert Marine Museum, Solomons, United States ; Department of Paleobiology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, United States
Murdoch, Paul; United States
Dewaele, Leonard ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département de géologie > Evolution and diversity dynamics lab ; Chef de travaux Directorate of Earth and History of Life, Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Brussels, Belgium ; FunMorph Lab, Department of Biology, Antwerp University, Campus Drie Eiken, Antwerp, Belgium
Perez, Victor J.; Environmental Studies Department, St. Mary’s College of Maryland, St. Mary’s City, St. Mary's City, United States
Schumaker, Clarence; Daybreak Studios, Chesapeake Beach, United States
Language :
English
Title :
First report in the fossil record of a shark tooth embedded in a pinniped bone
We would like to express our thanks to CMM Paleontology Collections Manager, John R. Nance for encouraging access to specimens in his care. We are also grateful to the constructive reviews given by Dr Robert W. Boessenecker (Mace Brown Museum of Natural History, College of Charleston), Dr Alberto Collareta (Museo di Storia Naturale, Università di Pisa), and Dr Olivier Lambert (Institut royal des Sciences naturelles de Belgique, Belgium), which improved upon our initial effort, and Dr Michel Laurin who kept the manuscript moving through the publication process. We are grateful that Dr Robert R. Reisz invited us to contribute to this issue. This research was funded in part by the citizens of Calvert County Maryland, the County Board of Calvert County Commissioners, and the Clarissa and Lincoln Dryden Endowment for Paleontology at the Calvert Marine Museum.
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