Plicatoscyllium fossil map
Where fossils of Plicatoscyllium have been found, shown on the Earth as it looked about 66 million years ago and on today’s map.
Dots are fossil collections recorded in the Paleobiology Database. The “then” view moves today’s fossil sites back to their positions 66 million years ago (the time slice nearest the median age of the fossils) using the Merdith et al. (2021) plate model; positions are approximate. Open on the timeline map →
| Group | Ancient fish & sharks |
|---|---|
| Lived | 85.7–37.71 million years ago (Santonian to Bartonian) |
| Periods | Cretaceous, Paleogene |
| Family | Ginglymostomatidae |
| Named by | Case and Cappetta 1997 |
| Fossil records | 79 occurrences at 47 locations (PBDB) |
| Found in | United States, Morocco, Syria, Belgium, Jordan, France, Spain, Saudi Arabia, Netherlands, Mali … |
| Rock formations | txn:83128, Marshalltown, Fox Hills, Navesink, Kemp Clay, Mesaverde |
About Plicatoscyllium
Plicatoscyllium is an extinct genus of orectolobiform shark known from deposits of Late Cretaceous age in France, Jordan, the Netherlands, Syria and the United States. Remains tentatively referrable to the genus from Cenozoic deposits have been discovered in Saudi Arabia.
The genus was named by G.R. Case and H. Cappetta in 1997 to refer to species formerly considered species of Ginglymostoma, namely the species G. gharbii, G. youssoufiaense and G. minutum. Furthermore, the species G. globidens was considered to possibly represent a species of Plicatyoscyllium.
Furthermore, the species of G. lehneri and G. rugosum were synonymized with P. minutum, which would have been a wide-ranging species known from western Africa, eastern North America and Europe.
Teeth referred to the genus have been found in association with remains of the giant mosasaur Prognathodon saturator, which along with bite marks on the bones of the mosasaur specimen indicated that individuals of the genus had scavenged off the corpse of the mosasaur.
Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Plicatoscyllium (revision 1258135714), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0; introduction excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Ages, family, authority and fossil records: Paleobiology Database, accessed 23 October 2026. Ages are those of the rock layers the fossils were found in. Wikidata: Q48969031.
