Mid-Cretaceous elasmobranchs (sharks and rays) from the Southern Carnarvon Basin

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Cretaceous marine rocks near Kalbarri and in the Giralia Range are rich in teeth of sharks whereas rays are poorly represented. Most of the material belongs to three groups of elasmobranchs: piked dogfish sharks, carpet sharks and mackerel sharks.

The teeth of piked dogfish sharks commonly make up more than half of the collected material (pictured above). Like their living relatives they probably formed schools swimming close to the bottom in search of fish and other prey.

The state of preservation is often exceptional with every minute detail of the teeth preserved intact. Some sampled intervals contain as many as 30 species of sharks and rays, which is the highest elasmobranch diversity recorded in the Cretaceous of the Southern Hemisphere. Thus far eight new species of sharks have been described from the two areas with more to come.