A neoselachian shark fauna from the Late Cretaceous of Senegal

A selachian fauna is described for the first time from the Late Cretaceous (Campanian–Maastrichtian) of Senegal. So far, the Campanian Paki Formation has only yielded a single tooth of Rhombodus sp. whereas the Cap de Naze Formation has yielded a more diverse fauna including juvenile Cretalamna cf. Cretalamna biauriculata, Serratolamna serrata, Carcharias cf. Carcharias heathi, ?Carcharias sp., Squalicorax pristodontus, Schizorhiza stromeri, Parapaleobates sp., Rhombodus binkhorsti and Rhombodus andriesi. Teeth of juvenile Cretalamna largely dominate the assemblage. Such an assemblage confirms a Late Maastrichtian age for the unit 3 in the Cap de Naze Formation. The assemblage, although composed of cosmopolitan taxa, is similar to the contemporaneous selachian assemblage from the phosphates of Morocco.

► First selachian fauna ever described from the Late Cretaceous of Senegal. ► One taxon recovered in the Campanian and nine taxa recovered in the Maastrichtian. ► Cosmopolitan assemblage, similar to the one from Morocco.