UF 262186, a lower tooth of Physogaleus contortus. Photo VP FLMNH.
UF 262186, a lower tooth of Physogaleus contortus. Photo © VP FLMNH.

This week’s Fossil Friday feature is the tooth of an extinct species of shark called Physogaleus contortus. This specimen was found in the Las Cascadas locality of the Culebra Formation and is early Miocene in age. This shark had a widespread distribution during the middle Miocene.

To learn more about this specimen, read the publication that includes it here.

Reference:

Pimiento C., Gonzalez G., Hendy A., Jaramillo C., MacFadden B.J., Montes C., Suarez S.C., Shippritt M. 2013. Early Miocene chondrichthyans from the Culebra Formation, Panama: A window into marine vertebrate faunas before closure of the Central American Seaway. Journal of South American Earth Sciences 42: 159-170
www.dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jsames.2012.11.005.