Janassid petalodonts (Chondrichthyes, Petalodontiformes, Janassidae) from the middle Mississippian (Visean) Ste. Genevieve Formation, Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky, USA
Hodnett JM, Toomey R, Olson R, Tweet JS, Santucci VL. 2023. Janassid petalodonts (Chondrichthyes, Petalodontiformes, Janassidae) from the middle Mississippian (Visean) Ste. Genevieve Formation, Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky, USA. Historical Biology. online first:1–11
Isolated teeth of two janassid petalodonts collected from cave passages within the Middle Mississippian (Viséan) Joppa Member of the Ste. Genevieve Formation at Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky represents the first record of this group of chondrichthyans from this formation. A new janassid, Strigilodus tollesonae, gen et sp. nov., is recognised from isolated teeth, representing all tooth families, and are characterised by their rounded spoonlike cusps and V- to U-shaped lingual cristae. Janassa sp. is also present within the Joppa Member of the Ste. Genevieve Formation. Dental reconstructions are proposed for Strigilodus tollesonae and Cypripediodens cristatus, modelled after previous observations for Janassa dentitions. Strigilodus had a dental arrangement more similar to Janassa, while Cypripediodens was uniquely adapted for a possible extreme form of durophage feeding. We propose that within Janassidae, there were two unnamed subfamilies with Janassa and Strigilodus forming the Janassinae, while Cholodus, Cypripediodens, and Cavusodus forming Cholodinae subfam. nov.
- Type
- Journal Article
- Authors
- Hodnett, John-Paul; Toomey, Rickard; Olson, Rickard; Tweet, Justin; Santucci, Vincent
- Units
- MACA
- Keywords
- chondrichthyans, Mississippian, Paleontology