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330-Million-Year-Old Shark Skull Discovered Inside Kentucky Cave

Newly-discovered fossils theorize that the area of Kentucky’s Mammoth Cave National Park, far from the ocean, was once full of sharks, when archaeologists have found remnants of 15 to 20 different species of shark deep inside the cave, in which there is the remains of the head of a great white-sized monstrous creature partially protruding from a wall.

Source: Mammoth Cave National Park

The animals existed roughly 330 million years ago in what was known as the Late Mississippian geologic time period, when oceans still spanned over much of North America. After their deaths, their remnants were embedded in sediment ultimately turned into limestone when the cave formed.
Paleontologist John-Paul Hodnett from the Maryland's Dinosaur Park, a fossil site near Washington, DC who supports research for the National Park Service said, “There's hardly ever any any record at all of shark teeth coming from these rocks. So that was exciting. So this is a brand new record of sharks from a particular layer of time.”
Vincent Santucci, senior paleontologist with the National Park Service, revealed that shark fossils were stumbled upon by Mammoth Cave scientists Rick Olson and Rick Toomey during their mapping in a remote part of the cave. Knowing that Hodnett is an expert on Paleozoic sharks, the two scientists quickly sent photos of their discovery to him.

Source: Mammoth Cave National Park

Hodnett stated that in the photos, there was the presence of some shark teeth, together with cartilage possibly forming a shark’s skeleton, which is quite uncommon because cartilage, which isn’t as hard as bones, wouldn’t be able to be preserved in most cases.
Upon the trip to the cave in November, Hodnett realized that it isn’t a skeleton; instead, it is just parts of the head, which is ‘pretty big’. He said that part of the shark’s jaw where it would have attached to the skull and the end that would have been its chin can be clearly observed. Additionally, some of the middle of the jaw might be about 2.5 ft. long, though not visible.

Source: Mammoth Cave National Park

The examination of the teeth revealed that the remains belong to a species called Saivodus striatus, matching the size of a present-day great white, nearly 16 to 20 ft. long. However, Hodnett is still unsure how much of the shark remains embedded in the rock.
"It's super exciting, but not exactly the easiest thing to study," Hodnett said. "Caves are a very special environment, so it's not ideal to be removing big chunks of rock out of it and damage the the internal environment by doing this."
It is quite challenging just to get to this part of the cave, according to Hornett, who claimed that he and his fellows had to crawl on hands and knees for about a quarter mile to reach their prize. "It's gonna be very hard to bring the appropriate equipment in there to to properly excavate the specimen out of the cave," he said.

Source: Mammoth Cave National Park

Hornett revealed that he is still analyzing the fossil specimens retrieved, but up to now the findings have been astonishing, as he said to have discovered the remains of 150 distinct sharks from 15 to 20 different kinds. This finding itself can be cast light on what life was during the Late Mississippian period in North America, as most of the previously discovered fossils were located in Europe.
"We literally just scratched the surface, and the sharks are just coming out from that scratch," Hodnett said. "So, hopefully, with more field work, we'll get another good batch of specimens to kind of help get at least some more rich diversity." Experts also intend to showcase their discovery in October, at a meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology.
Santucci said the fossils were found in a remote part of the park that people can't visit without special permission, but they don't want to reveal the exact location. Eventually, he said, they'll display the fossils in the park and online. But, he says, the project is just getting started. "It's amazing how quickly we've already found some interesting stuff," Santucci said.
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