In black corridors of tone of Mammoth Cave National Parkdeeply under the wavy hills of Kentucky, scientists have discovered something surprising: the fossilized remains of two never seen before prehistoric shark species. Limestone More than 325 million yearsThese old predators have resurfaced with a surprising level of preservation, opening a rare window to marine life that is prior to dinosaurs.
Announced as part of the Inventory of paleontological resources of the National Service of the National Park (NPS)The finding is more than a curiosity. Shed light on a time when North America was submerged under a tropical inner seaA vast river full of ancient life, much of which remains unknown.
“These fossils are not only remarkably intact, but also defy what we thought we knew about the early evolution of the shark,” he said Dr. Vincent SantucciSenior Paleontologist of the NPS, which helped supervise the ongoing survey rich in US fossils. “They offer clues about the diversity of species, the behavior of the predators and how marine ecosystems worked long before the first dinosaurs appeared.”
Troglocladodus and Glikmanius: predators of a forgotten world
The two species have been named Troglocladodus trimblei and GLIKMANIUS CARFORUMand belong to the extinct group of sharks known as cenacantos. Unlike modern sharks, the Ctenacanths looked comb spines in comb -shaped—Posibly for defense or exhibition, and does not show direct lineage to any contemporary species.
Troglocladodus trimbleiThe smallest of the two, measured approximately 3.5 meters long and presented bifurcado teethwhich indicates a unique hunting strategy that probably adapts to soft body dams or rapid ambush. Your cousin, GLIKMANIUS CARFORUMIt is believed that it was more aggressive, with a overwhelming bite able to pass through the bone and even the hard shells of OROCONESAn extinct group of squid mollusks.
A digital representation published by the NPS, based on fossil data and anatomical comparisons, represents Glikmanius sliding through water while two Troglocladus Patrol above: Ghosts of a missing sea that once covered the modern American medium.
Preserved by time, revealed by science
The scenario of discovery is no less notable than fossils themselves. Gigantic cave It is the Largest cave system on Earthstretching on 676 kilometers through old limestone layers. Its stable low oxygen environment helped preserve the remains with impressive details: ribs, thorns and even some fine -scale characteristics survived the geological time test.
According to him Fossil inventory NPSThis preservation is what makes the cave system a critical site for ongoing paleontological research. The widest program, created under the Paleontological resources preservation lawhas cataloged fossils in More than 270 national parksUsing a combination of field work, museum archives and interviews with previous researchers to gather detailed records of the United States deep time assets.
“The cave acted as a natural time capsule,” he said Benji Paynosewho contributed to fossil reconstructions. “In terms of paleobiology, this is as close to a scene of prehistoric crime as it seems.”
A lost sea under our feet
The rocks that support fossils in the gigantic cave date from the Mississippi subperiod of the carbonifera time when the sea level was high and the area that would become Kentucky was part of a vast tropical archipelago. Linked shallow seas what they are now North America, Europe and North Africaforming an ecosystem rich in early sharks, molluscs and reefs.
As the tectonic plates changed and Pangea began to take shape, these marine habitats gradually disappeared. What remains today are isolated geological formations, such as Northern Alabama and Kentucky central—The record of the last traces of those missing seas.
A previous finding in the same region, documented by the Paleontology Magazineincluded a 330 million years sharks that rivals a large target in size. Together with the new discoveries, they underline the importance of the region to understand Shark evolutionparticularly the diversity of lineages that once roam the ancient oceans but did not leave modern descendants.
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