Diversity Patterns of Late Jurassic Chondrichthyans: New Insights from a Historically Collected Hybodontiform Tooth Assemblage from Poland

Abstract

Here, we provide a detailed taxonomic reassessment of a historically collected chondrichthyan dental assemblage from the lower Kimmeridgian of Czarnogłowy in north-western Poland and discuss its significance for better understanding hybodontiform diversity patterns prior to their post-Jurassic decline in fully marine environments. In spite of its low taxonomic diversity, consisting of four large-toothed taxa (viz., Strophodus udulfensis, Asteracanthus ornatissimus, Planohybodus sp. and cf. Meristodonoides sp.), this assemblage is remarkable in that there are only very few Mesozoic hybodontiform assemblages with more large-toothed genera or even species. Comparisons with other European Late Jurassic hybodontiform-bearing localities demonstrate fairly homogenous distribution patterns characterized by large-bodied epipelagic forms of high dispersal ability. This is in stark contrast to post-Jurassic hybodontiform associations, which are dominated by smaller species that were predominantly bound to marginal marine and continental waters, suggesting a major reorganization of chondrichthyan communities during the Early Cretaceous.