New chondrichthyans from the Irati Formation (Early Permian, Paraná Basin), Brazil: origin, paleoenvironmental and paleogeographical considerations

Three genera, known by dorsal finspine, are reported from conglomeratic sandstone at the base of the Lower Permian (Kungurian) Irati Formation (Paraná Basin) near Rio Claro, São Paulo State, Brazil, noteworthy for the great richness of vertebrate fossils. The fossils include: (1) the previously known Sphenacanthus with the species Sphenacanthus sanpauloensis and an indeterminate species; (2) the Permian - Carboniferous genus Amelacanthus; (3) a new indeterminate Chondrichthyes. These fossils are found together with: continental, fresh-water and salt-water vertebrates. The analysis of this assemblage allows inference about the origin of Paraná Basin Chondrichthyes as well as reconstruction of the paleoenvironment and the possible geographic isolation of these fishes during the Permian in Brazil.