The late Miocene elasmobranch assemblage from Cerro Colorado (Pisco Formation, Peru)

- We report on a new late Miocene elasmobranch assemblage from Cerro Colorado (Pisco Fm).
- This assemblage includes at least 21 species attributed to 9 families and 5 orders.
- 7 taxa are recorded for the first time in the Pisco Fm and 3 in the fossil record of Peru.
- Cerro Colorado was exploited as a nursery area.
- Ecological and trophic dynamics have been recognized over the stratigraphic succession.

The new late Miocene elasmobranch assemblage from Cerro Colorado (Pisco Formation) described herein provides a first comprehensive view on the composition and structure of this community in the Pisco Basin (Peru), one of the most important Neogene Konservat-Lagerstätten of the world. The studied assemblage includes at least 21 species attributed to 10 families and 5 orders: 7 taxa are recorded for the first time in the Pisco Formation and 3 for the first time in the fossil record of Peru. Three shark-tooth bearing intervals have been recognized at Cerro Colorado. Changes in the taxonomic composition of these three fossiliferous deposits allowed us to reconstruct ecological, trophic and environmental dynamics over the stratigraphic succession of Cerro Colorado. In particular, the environmental scenario of the most diversified shark tooth-bearing interval (ST-low1) is consistent with a shallow marine coastal area, influenced by both brackish and open sea waters, dominated by a community of small mesopredator sharks that used this ecospace as reproductive ground (nursery) and recruitment area.