A DESCRIPTION OF A MIDDLE CAMPANIAN EUSELACHIAN ASSEMBLAGE FROM THE BLADEN FORMATION OF NORTH CAROLINA, USA

Rostral spines from the sclerorhynchid Borodinopristis shannoni were recently reported from the middle Campanian Bladen Formation of North Carolina, USA. The sawfish material was part of a larger euselachian assemblage recovered from this delta-shelf system. Herein, the dentition of 16 genera and at least three new species are reported. The assemblage consists predominantly of widely distributed squatiniform (Squatina), orectolobiform (Plicatoscyllium, Protoginglymostoma), and lamniform (Scapanorhynchus, Cretalamna, Archaeolamna, Sqaulicorax) taxa. Also present are hybodontiform (Meristodonoides, Lonchidion), sclerorhynchiform (Ptychotrygon, Ischyrhiza), rajiform (Pseudohypolophus), and myliobatiform (Brachyrhizodus, Rhombodus, Dasyatis) species that are limited to the Atlantic and Gulf coastal plains and Western Interior Seaway of North America. There appears to be very little regional faunal turnover when compared to a previously described assemblage from the overlying Donoho Formation.