Carcharhinus priscus ( Agassiz, 1843 )

Hovestadt, Dirk C. & Da Silva, Carlos M., 2025, A new chondrichthyan (Sharks and Rays) Fossil Assemblage from the Miocene Cacela Fm. at Albufeira (Algarve, Portugal) with two new species: Palaeoecology and Biogeography, Zootaxa 5724 (1), pp. 1-66 : 23-24

Carcharhinus priscus ( Agassiz, 1843)

Plate 4, Figs 30–46

* Sphyrna prisca Agassiz 1843 : pl. 26a, figs 35–50.

Galeocerdo acanthodon Le Hon 1871: 9 , text-fig. 2.

Galeocerdo ( Hypoprion) acanthodon ( Le Hon, 1871) — Leriche 1926: 433, pl. 28, figs 11–19, text-fig. 198.

Carcharinus ( Hypoprion) acanthodon (Le Hon) — Van de Geyn 1937: 322, pl. 12, figs 25–33.

Sphyrna priscus ( Agassiz, 1843) — Van de Geyn 1937: 327, pl. 13, figs 18–26.

Cestracion ( Sphyrna) laevissimus (Cope) — Zbyszewski & Almeida 1950: 349, pl. 7, figs 145–147.

Cestracion ( Sphyrna) priscus (Agassiz) — Zbyszewski & Almeida 1950: 351, pl. 7, figs?133,?134,?136,?138,?139–143,?148.

Carcharhinus ( Hypoprion) acanthodon (Le Hon) — Serralheiro 1954: 55 ( partim), pl. 2, figs 30, 31 (not 32–34), pl. 4, fig. 111.

Carcharhinus ( Aprionodon) frequens (Dames) — Serralheiro 1954: 57, pl. 2, figs 35–37.

Carcharhinus ( Hypoprion) lusitanicus — Jonet 1966: 67, pl. 1, figs 1–8, 10–16, pl. 4, figs 26, 27.

Carcharhinus sp. — Jonet 1966: 68, pl. 1, fig. 20.

Carcharhinus ( Aprionodon) macrorhiza Jonet 1966: 71 , pl. 1, figs 17–19.

Carcharhinus priscus (Agassiz), 1843 — Cappetta 1970: 54, pl. 13, figs 1–20, pl. 14, figs 1–20.

Hypoprion acanthodon ( Le Hon, 1871) — Antunes & Jonet 1970: 187, pl. 15, figs 100–108.

Carcharhinus priscus ( Agassiz, 1843) — Antunes & Jonet 1970: 191, pl. 17, figs 120–131.

Hypoprion acanthodon ( Le Hon, 1871) — Jonet et al. 1975: 205, pl. 1, figs 12, 13.

Hypoprion acanthodon ( Le Hon, 1871) — Jonet 1978: 33, pl. 1, fig. 25.

Carcharhinus priscus ( Agassiz, 1843) — Jonet 1978: 33, pl. 1, figs 21, 23.

Hypoprion acanthodon (Le Hon) — Antunes et al. 1981: 18, pl. 3, figs 15, 18.

Carcharhinus priscus (Agassiz) — Antunes et al. 1981: 18, pl. 2, fig. 18.

Carcharhinus priscus ( Agassiz, 1843) — Müller 1999: 49, pl. 6, figs 10–12.

Carcharhinus priscus ( Agassiz, 1843) — Cappetta 2012: 304, figs 286a–c.

Carcharhinus priscus ( Agassiz, 1843) — Schultz 2013: 80, pl. 7, figs 6a–7b.

Carcharhinus priscus (Agassiz) — Esteves & Silva 2014: 4, pl. 1, figs 6, 7.

Carcharhinus priscus ( Agassiz, 1843) —Pollerspöck & Baeury 2014: 29, pl. 1, fig. 2.

Carcharhinus priscus Agassiz, 1843 [ sic]— Fialho 2015: 33, pl. 1, fig. 8.

Carcharhinus priscus ( Agassiz, 1843) — Fialho et al. 2021: 417, figs 6i–l.

Carcharhinus priscus ( Agassiz, 1843) — Fialho 2022: 127, pl. 5, figs E, F.

Material. 257 isolated teeth. NHMW 2025 /0177/0001 ( 18 specimens) .

Description. Generally, the upper dentition comprises teeth that have a less protruding central root whereas those of the lower teeth protrude significantly. Although the teeth are poorly preserved, lacking significantly important parts, Tab. 26a, figs 35, 38, 40–43, 45–50 of Agassiz (1843) are considered upper teeth and figs 36, 37, 39, lower teeth. Comparing teeth with those figured by Agassiz (1843) results in a reconstruction of the dentition Carcharhinus priscus .

The upper teeth ( Pl. 4, figs 30–37) possess a principal cusp that is strongly constricted just above the base with extended mesial and distal cutting edges bearing a serration. The principal cusp is relatively high, twice as high as its base width and upright in anterior teeth becoming distally inclined towards the commissure. The root is divided into two root lobes by a shallow median groove that diverge at an angle of approximately 140°. The lower teeth ( Pl. 4, figs 38–46) are similar but possess a broader based principal cusp and a labiolingually slightly stronger protruded lingual central section of the root.

Discussion. Agassiz (1843) originally described the species as Sphyrna prisca , illustrating sixteen teeth and tooth fragments. Despite their smaller size, the teeth of this species show many similarities with the dentition of Carcharhinus ambionensis , as illustrated by Bass et al. (1973). However, the lower and upper teeth of C. priscus possess a principal cusp that is more constricted mesio-distally than that of C. ambionensis . Following various different assignments by different authors, Cappetta (1970) introduced the name Carcharhinus priscus for this species, which is now widely accepted. We follow this latter assignment.

Distribution. Miocene–Pliocene. Lower Miocene–Pliocene: North Sea Basin, Germany (Pollerspöck & Baeury 2014), Belgium ( Schultz 2013. Lower–Middle Miocene: Paratethys, Austria ( Schultz 2013); Proto-Mediterranean, Italy, France, Malta ( Schultz 2013) Virginia, North Carolina, USA ( Müller 1999). Upper Miocene: Atlantic, France ( Schultz 2013).

Distribution in Portugal. Lower Miocene: (Burdigalian), Lower Tagus Basin ( Zbyszewski & Almeida 1950; Serralheiro 1954; Esteves & Silva 2014). Middle Miocene: (Langhian-Serravallian) Lower Tagus Basin ( Zbyszewski & Almeida 1950; Serralheiro 1954; Antunes & Jonet 1970; Fialho 2015; Fialho et al. 2021); Algarve basin, LagosPortimão Fm. ( Antunes et al. 1981). Upper Miocene: (Tortonian) Lower Tagus Basin ( Zbyszewski & Almeida 1950; Serralheiro 1954; Antunes & Jonet 1970); Algarve Basin, Cacela Fm. (this paper).