Galeorhinus cuvieri

Galeorhinus cuvieri Temporal range: Early Eocene PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Specimen, Museo dei Fossili di Bolca
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Chondrichthyes
Subclass:	Elasmobranchii
Order:	Carcharhiniformes
Family:	Triakidae
Genus:	Galeorhinus
Species:	†G. cuvieri
Binomial name
†Galeorhinus cuvieri (Agassiz, 1835)
Synonyms
Galeus cuvieri Agassiz, 1835 Protogaleus cuvieri (Agassiz, 1835) Alopiopsis plejodon Lioy, 1865 Physogaleus cuvieri (Agassiz, 1835)

Not to be confused with Galeocerdo cuvier, the tiger shark.

Galeorhinus cuvieri (named after Georges Cuvier) is an extinct species of houndshark known from the Early Eocene-aged Monte Bolca site of Italy. It was a close relative of the modern tope or school shark, which it is highly morphologically similar to.[1][2][3]

Ecology

It is known from six extremely well-preserved specimens that preserve the full body of the shark. A comparison to the modern school shark suggests that these all represent sexually immature juvenile individuals, indicating that the Bolca site may have represented a nursery for a population of G. cuvieri. One particularly well-preserved specimen has preserved soft tissues and even preserved stomach contents, which appear to be of a barracuda (Sphyraena bolcensis). As reef-dwelling populations of the modern school shark also show a preference for feeding on barracudas, this suggests a long history of predator-prey interactions between these two genera.[1][3]

Taxonomy

G. cuvieri specimen, Museo di Storia Naturale di Verona

This species has had a complex taxonomic history.[1] One specimen of the species was initially misidentified by Volta (1796) as a fossil specimen of the great white shark (Carcharodon carcharias, at the time Squalus carcharias), and another as a fossil specimen of the zebra shark (Stegostoma tigrinum, at the time Squalus fasciatus). It was officially described by Agassiz (1835) as Galeus cuvieri. It was afterwards placed into its own genus, Protogaleus by Molin (1860), which itself was treated in some studies as synonymous with Alopiopsis.[4] Cappetta (1975) re-analyzed the Bolca sharks and divided them between Eogaleus and Protogaleus cuvieri, which he recognized as a species of Galeorhinus.[1] However, later authors, including Cappetta, disputed the placement of this species in the extant Galeorhinus, and instead placed it in the extinct Physogaleus, otherwise known only from teeth.[5] In a comprehensive analysis, Federico et al (2016) affirmed G. cuvieri as being a member of Galeorhinus, noting its strong morphological similarities and dentition to the school shark.[1]

References

1. Fanti, Federico; Minelli, Daniela; Larocca Conte, Gabriele; Miyashita, Tetsuto (2016-04-01). "An exceptionally preserved Eocene shark and the rise of modern predator–prey interactions in the coral reef food web". Zoological Letters. 2 (1): 9. doi:10.1186/s40851-016-0045-4. ISSN 2056-306X. PMC 4818435. PMID 27042332.
2. "PBDB Taxon". paleobiodb.org. Retrieved 2025-01-25.
3. Marramà, Giuseppe; Carnevale, Giorgio; Kriwet, Jürgen (2021). "Diversity, palaeoecology and palaeoenvironmental significance of the Eocene chondrichthyan assemblages of the Bolca Lagerstätte, Italy". Lethaia. 54 (5): 736–751. Bibcode:2021Letha..54..736M. doi:10.1111/let.12436. ISSN 0024-1164. PMC 9291491. PMID 35873368.
4. Woodward, Arthur Smith (1889). Catalogue of the Fossil Fishes in the British Museum (Natural History.). Taylor & Francis.
5. Adnet, Sylvain; Cappetta, Henri (2008). "New Fossil Triakid Sharks from the Early Eocene of Prémontré, France, and Comments on Fossil Record of the Family". Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. 53 (3): 433–448. doi:10.4202/app.2008.0306. ISSN 0567-7920.