PaleoBios

A survey of the Eocene (Priabonian) Dry Branch Formation exposed in Aiken County, South Carolina, resulted in the collection of thousands of fossil teeth and bone fragments. Two sites located near the city of Aiken proved to be particularly productive, and 24 species of elasmobranchs, 11 osteichthyans, and three reptiles (one crocodilian and two turtles) have been identified. Herein we focus on the elasmobranch species (17 sharks and seven rays) that are part of the assemblage, which includes a new species of daggernose shark, Isogomphodon aikenensis n. sp. Cicimurri and Knight. The fossils are derived from the upper part of the Dry Branch Formation, and the fossiliferous strata accumulated within a high energy nearshore marine depositional environment that was influenced by a river system. Based on the vertebrate and invertebrate fossils we identified, the water depth was less than 40 m, and surface water temperature was at least 22° C . Elasmobranch species composition is similar to other late Eocene elasmobranch assemblages reported from the Gulf and Atlantic Coastal plains, particularly Georgia, and several of the taxa indicate affinities to the Tethyan region.