Abstract

Teeth of bramble sharks (Echinorhinidae) are one of the scarcest chondrichthyan elements reported to date in the Upper Cretaceous of central Chile and in general, South America. Prior to this research, its local record was restricted to only four available specimens, previously considered to be equivalent to teeth from the upper Maastrichtian of Argentinean Patagonia, being these referred to the species Echinorhinus maremagnum. This contribution presents two new elements, including the first complete large tooth from central Chile, showing the presence of a distally projected basal cusplet and a complex mesial, serrated cutting edge with the primordium of two clear cusplets, this last being a trait commonly present in several Cenozoic species. These new features remained unnoticed in the previous material from central Chile, either due to informative portions missing or the immature growth stage of the smaller known sample. The dental features of the new specimen are unique among known species of the genus Echinorhinus; moreover, the crown traits represent an ancestral condition with respect to those features commonly present in Cenozoic species. With the new evidence, all the known Echinorhinus teeth from the lower Maastrichtian of central Chile are now referred to Echinorhinus taverai sp. nov. The occurrence of the studied material directly associated with an elasmosaur skeleton is consistent with other findings of the genus in the Southern Hemisphere, suggesting that Upper Cretaceous austral Echinorhinus spp. were opportunistic scavengers in the shallow coastal waters of southern South America. (c) 2025 Elsevier Ltd. All rights are reserved, including those for text and data mining, AI training, and similar technologies.