Posted on 06/27/2025 11:38:47 AM PDT by Red Badger
The small shark named Clavusodens mcginnisi, or “McGinnis’ nail tooth,” only measured 3-4 inches in length.
A 4 inch long male and female Clavusodens hunting for early crustaceans on the sea floor that once covered much of central Kentucky during the Middle Mississippian period, 340 million years ago. NPS Illustration / Benji Paysnoe
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MAMMOTH CAVE, KY. – A new-to-science species of ancient shark has been discovered through an ongoing Paleontological Resource Inventory (PRI) at Mammoth Cave National Park. The new species of obruchevodid petalodont, called Clavusodens mcginnisi, was identified by researchers through fossil teeth collected from deep inside the Ste. Genevieve Formation within Mammoth Cave.
“The fossil discoveries in Mammoth Cave continue to reveal a wealth of new information about ancient shark species,” said Superintendent Barclay Trimble. “Researchers and volunteers collected samples from the main Mammoth Cave system and from smaller isolated caves throughout the park that have provided new data on previously known ancient sharks and revealed several species that are brand new to science. These discoveries help scientists to better understand the relationship and evolution of modern shark species within this relatively small geographic region.”
Clavusodens mcginnisi, or “McGinnis’ nail tooth,” was discovered from a number of small teeth found throughout the Ste. Genevieve Formation rock layer in Mammoth Cave National Park. Its name is derived from the shark’s back teeth which superficially look like old iron nails because of their flat crowns and long tooth bases. Nick-named “Chipmunk sharks” for their small size and chisel-like front teeth and crushing back teeth, members of the Obruchevodidae were between 3-4 inches in length. Their small size allowed them to avoid larger predators as they foraged on crustaceans, worms, and small brachiopods found along the sea floor. The species name, mcginnisi, honors retired National Park Service superintendent and naturalist David McGinnis, whose 39-year career started at Mammoth Cave National Park.
The Ste. Genevieve Formation at Mammoth Cave is a layer of rocks that date back to approximately 340 million years ago. The rocks consist of limestones and shales which formed on the bottom of a warm ocean reef. The majority of fossilized sharks are found in invertebrate hash beds, a rock layer made of skeletal and shell parts of crinoids, blastoids, corals, gastropods, and brachiopods. Prior to the discoveries made at Mammoth Cave over the last several years, no shark fossils were known from the Ste. Genevieve Formation. To date, over 70 species of sharks and other fish have been identified from this geologic layer, including four new species.
Visit Mammoth Cave National Park PRI to learn more about the park’s ancient shark research and view images of ancient shark discoveries in our Shark Photo Gallery.
https://www.nps.gov/media/photo/gallery.htm?pg=7175214&id=DEFA5FD6-E5B5-48B4-93A5-FD0640CBC6AB
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Spelunking sharks
LOL.
They had laser beams on their heads for some odd reason................
Who's there?
Cave shark.
Go away!
Knock knock.
Who's there?
Candygram.
You can't fool me! You are that Cave Shark. Go Away!
Knock knock.
Who's there?
Door Dash.
Oh boy! :sound of door opening:
Arrrrgh!
If the adults were three to four inches long, how big were the baby sharks?
Here’s the clip. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_NS2H55dxI
It was a nice touch. ;)
Lol! I see what you did there.
Wouldn’t that make it an OLD shark species, not a new shark species?
It’s a NEW OLD SHARK SPECIES...............🙄
Make America Caves Again
(Daughter was there just a few weeks ago, saw some card sharks but not this one.)
Last year they discovered a previously unknown mammoth species in Shark Cave. Okay, I'll stop now.
This was obviously a land shark since it was in Kentucky and the left routinely tells us that sea levels are currently at their highest ever levels.
Must be a descendent of the snow sharks that devoured our city’s asphalt last winter.
“Spelunking sharks”
Yea, but are they blind sharks?
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