Sawfishes and Other Elasmobranch Assemblages from the Mio-Pliocene of the South Caribbean (Urumaco Sequence, Northwestern Venezuela)

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 10; no. 10; p. e0139230
• Main Authors: Carrillo-Briceño, Jorge D, Maxwell, Erin, Aguilera, Orangel A, Sánchez, Rodolfo, Sánchez-Villagra, Marcelo R
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 21.10.2015; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Analysis; Animals; Biodiversity; Biological Evolution; Caribbean Region; Elasmobranchii - anatomy & histology; Elasmobranchii - classification; Endangered & extinct species; Estuaries; Fossils; Miocene; Museums; New species; Paleoenvironments; Paleontology; Phylogeny; Physiological aspects; Pliocene; Pristidae; Pristis; Pristis perotteti; Sawfishes; Stratigraphy; Taxonomic revision; Taxonomy; Terrestrial environments; Venezuela; Vertebrates; Venezuela; Caribbean Region; Panama; New York; Caribbean Sea; United States > US; Switzerland
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0139230

The Urumaco stratigraphic sequence, western Venezuela, preserves a variety of paleoenvironments that include terrestrial, riverine, lacustrine and marine facies. A wide range of fossil vertebrates associated with these facies supports the hypothesis of an estuary in that geographic area connected with a hydrographic system that flowed from western Amazonia up to the Proto-Caribbean Sea during the Miocene. Here the elasmobranch assemblages of the middle Miocene to middle Pliocene section of the Urumaco sequence (Socorro, Urumaco and Codore formations) are described. Based on new findings, we document at least 21 taxa of the Lamniformes, Carcharhiniformes, Myliobatiformes and Rajiformes, and describe a new carcharhiniform species (†Carcharhinus caquetius sp. nov.). Moreover, the Urumaco Formation has a high number of well-preserved fossil Pristis rostra, for which we provide a detailed taxonomic revision, and referral in the context of the global Miocene record of Pristis as well as extant species. Using the habitat preference of the living representatives, we hypothesize that the fossil chondrichthyan assemblages from the Urumaco sequence are evidence for marine shallow waters and estuarine habitats.