In Depth
Gladioserratus is an extinct genus of cow shark that is known to have first appeared near the middle of the Early Cretaceous. Further fossil discoveries have led to the realisation that species of Gladioserratus lived all the way to the end of the Cretaceous and into the Paleocene. There has also been speculation that an extinct species of the genus Notorynchus, N. serratissimus should be synonymised into Gladioserratus, something that would extend the range of Gladioserratus even further into the Eocene.
As a cow shark Gladioserratus would have likely been a generalist predator feeding upon everything from fish to crustaceans, and given the fact that Gladioserratus lived during the Cretaceous, quite possibly smaller marine reptiles. If like relative genera, Gladioserratus would have had only one dorsal fin situated further back near the tail. Gladioserratus would have also likely had at least six gills, not five like in more advanced forms. Some cow sharks are known to have seven gills, though it is still unknown if Gladioserratus had this many.
Further Reading
- Marine vertebrates from the ‘middle’ Cretaceous (early Cenomanian) of South India. - Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 31 (3): 539–552. - Charlie J. Underwood, Anjali Goswami, G. V. R. Prasad, Omkar Verma & John J. Flynn - 2011. - A rare elasmobranch assemblage from the Valanginian (Lower Cretaceous) of southern France. - Cretaceous Research 48: 54–84. - Guillaume Guinot, Henri Cappetta & Sylvain Adnet - 2014. - Neoselachians from the Danian (Early Paleocene) of Denmark. - Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 60 (2): 313–338. - Jan S. Adolfssen & David J. Ward - 2015.
