Non-marine selachians from the basal Cretaceous of Charente, SW France

A gypsum quarry at Cherves-de-Cognac in south-western France exposes a large section of Berriasian (basal Cretaceous) sediments deposited in a lagoonal environment. The sediments have yielded rich vertebrate faunas, but only two species of selachians are present; the lonchidiid hybodont Parvodus celsucuspus sp. nov. and the batoid Belemnobatis variabilis. The composition of the fauna, including only a single, seemingly endemic, hybodont species from a time when hybodont faunas are relatively well investigated in Europe, indicate that small hybodonts were not able to migrate longer distances. The recorded batoid species also occurs in southern England, demonstrating that these batoids were primarily marine fishes that regularly explored areas with reduced salinity.