New records of fossil deep-sea shark teeth from the Lillebælt Clay (Early–Middle Eocene) of Denmark

Abstract

This study describes for the first time a number of distinct fossil teeth documenting several deep-sea shark species from the Eocene, which were previously not recorded from the North Sea Basin, including Apristurus sp., Orthechinorhinus cf. pfeili, Deania cf. angoumeensis, Squaliolus sp., Etmopterus cf. cahuzaci and Paraetmopterus nolfi. Our findings significantly increase the deep-sea shark diversity documented from this area so far. Despite the fact that the North Sea Basin had already lost direct connections to the neighbouring marine areas in the Eocene, the fauna shows highest similarities with documented Eocene deep-sea faunas of France, Austria and northern Morocco using cluster analysis.