A new genus of lonchidiid hybodontiform sharks from the Cretaceous of North Africa and South America

Abstract Minute hybodont shark teeth from uppermost Albian–lower Cenomanian (mid-Cretaceous) continental deposits of Djebel Amour (Saharan Atlas, Algeria) are described. They are assigned to a new genus and species of Lonchidiidae, Lonchidionoides trifurcatum . Similar teeth recently reported from the Early Cretaceous of Brazil are here referred to as Lonchidionoides sp. The heterodont dentition of Lonchidionoides is characterized by clutching anterior teeth with a tricuspid crown and larger crushing posterior teeth with less individualized cusps. Lateral teeth show an intermediate morphology. The two occurrences of this non-marine hybodontiform genus may reflect the existence of a large ancestral distribution area that was divided during the opening of the South Atlantic, as previously suggested for several groups of cartilaginous and bony fishes.