catalog of cuban fossil elasmobranchii (paleocene-

1996 Iturralde-Vinent, M., G. Hubbell, R. Rojas, 1996. Catalogue of Cuban fossil Elasmobranchii
(Paleocene to Pliocene) and paleogeographic implications of their Lower to Middle Miocene occurrence,
Boletín de la Sociedad Jamaicana de Geología, vol. 31, p. 7-21.
CATALOG OF CUBAN FOSSIL ELASMOBRANCHII (PALEOCENE--PLIOCENE)
AND PALEOOCEANOGRAPHIC IMPLICATIONS OF THEIR LOWER--MIDDLE
MIOCENE OCCURRENCE
M. Iturralde-Vinent1 , G. Hubbell2 , R. Rojas1
1 Museo Nacional de Historia Natural, La Habana, Cuba
2 Jaws International, 150 Buttonwood Drive, Key Biscayne, FL 33149
Las Tablas 1,2, 4 y figura 3 están al final del texto.
Abstract
Although fossil Elasmobranchii have been found in Paleocene, Eocene,
Miocene and Pliocene(?) rocks from Cuba, few papers are dedicated to their study
and description. This paper includes a revised list of Cuban fossil Elasmobranchii
(19 species from 10 genera) based on material preserved in several natural history
collections of Cuba and reports in the literature.
Paleocene sharks (Carcharodon auriculatus, Striatolamia sp.) are known
from localities in Pinar del Río, western Cuba. Middle to Late Eocene taxa
(Carcharodon auriculatus, Striatolamia macrota, Isurus sp.) are known from
localities in Havana city, Havana province, and the Sierra Maestra mountains
northwest of Santiago de Cuba. Miocene sharks (Carcharhinus obscurus, C. perezi,
Carcharias taurus, Carcharodon carcharias, C. megalodon, C. subauriculatus,
Galeocerdo contortus, Hemipristis serra, Isurus hastalis, I. sp. cf. I. desori,
Negaprion brevirostris, Sphyrna mokarran, S. prisca [?]) are well known from
many quarries in western Cuba, especially from those in Havana and Matanzas
provinces, but some taxa have been found in several sites throughout the country.
Late Miocene-Pliocene(?) C. megalodon teeth are reported from quarries near
Cárdenas in Matanzas province. Fossil remains of shark are mostly teeth, but some
shark vertebrae are in the collections as well as reported in the literature. Several
batoid remains have been found, including a dental plate of the Eocene (?)
Aetobatus poeyi, as long as several unidentified tail spines and dental plates of two
probably new Middle Miocene taxa, still under study.
The Elasmobranchii species found in Cuba are cosmopolitan, but,
interestingly, C. megalodon and some other Lower-Middle Miocene species have
been reported only from Havana and Matanzas provinces (western Cuba). This
peculiar distribution is probably related to the existence of a Lower-Middle Miocene
water channel accross western Cuba (Havana-Matanzas) that connected the
Atlantic Ocean with the Caribbean Sea. At that time the Caribbean surface current
probably joined the Florida-Gulf Stream currents across the present-day area of
Havana-Matanzas, as several additional facts suggest.
Key words: sharks, Tertiary, Cuba, paleooceanography
1
Resumen
Dientes fósiles de Elasmobranchios se encuentran en rocas del Paleoceno,
Eoceno, Mioceno y Plioceno(?) de Cuba, pero muy pocas obras se han dedicado a
su estudio y descripción. En el presente trabajo se ofrece una lista revisada de los
Elasmobranchios fósiles cubanos (19 especies de 10 géneros), incluidas algunas
especies que se reportan por primera vez para el territorio, a partir del material
atesorado en las colecciones de historia natural de los museos cubanos y otras que
aparecen en la literatura.
Tiburones del Paleoceno (Carcharodon auriculatus, Striatolamia sp.) se
reportan de Pinar del Río en Cuba occidental. Los taxones del Eoceno Medio y
Superior (Carcharodon auriculatus, Striatolamia macrota, Isurus sp.) se conocen
de localidades en la ciudad de La Habana, la provincia de La Habana y en las
montañas de la Sierra Maestra al NW de Santiago de Cuba. Los tiburones del
Mioceno (Carcharhinus obscurus, C. perezii, Carcharias taurus, Carcharodon
carcharias, C. megalodon, C. subauriculatus, Galeocerdo contortus, Hemipristis
serra, Isurus hastalis, I. sp. cf I. desori, Negaprion brevirostris, Sphyrna mokarran,
S. prisca [?]) se conocen bien de varias canteras situadas en el occidente de Cuba,
especialmente en las provincias de La Habana y Matanzas, pero algunos han
aparecido en otras localidades en el resto del país. Dientes de tiburón del MiocenoSuperior-Plioceno(?) (C. megalodon) se reportan de varias canteras cercanas a la
ciudad de Cárdenas en Matanzas. Los restos fósiles de tiburón son principalmente
dientes, pero en las colecciones hay algunas vertebras que han sido reportadas
antes en la literatura. De Cuba se ha descrito el batoide del Eoceno(?) Aetobatus
poeyi, y se encuentran, en lechos del Mioceno, espinas de la cola de batoides, así
como dos placas dentales en proceso de identificación.
Las especies de tiburones encontradas en Cuba son cosmopolitas, pero es
muy interesante que C. megalodon junto a otras especies del Mioceno InferiorMedio se hayan encontrado solamente en Cuba occidental (La Habana y
Matanzas). Esta distribución peculiar está relacionada probablemente con la
existencia de un canal marino en Cuba occidental (Habana-Matanzas) durante el
Mioceno Inferior a Medio, el cual comunicaba el Oceano Atlántico con el Mar
Caribe.
INTRODUCTION
Fossil Elasmobranchii were reported in Cuba since the beginning of the XVIII
century by different naturalist as Felipe Poey y Alloy, José Ramón de la Sagra,
L.J.R. Agassiz, Justo Egozcue y Cia, and Manuel Fernández de Castro. This last
author in 1873, in a paper describing a new fossil species of the Eocene(?) batoid
(Aetobatis poeyi) 1, listed the following Cuban shark taxa: Carcharodon
megalodon, C. heterodon, C. auriculatus, C. angustidens, Hemipristis serra,
Sphirna prisca, Oxyrhina quadrans, O. hastalis, O. plicatilis, Odontapsis or Lamna
This species now is named Aetobatus poeyi (Fernández de Castro), Kruckow and Thies (1990).
But the author's family name Fernández de Castro is incorrectly cited as "Castro" in this and
other references.
1
2
hopei, identified by Prof. D. Justo Egozcue y Cia2. In 1876 Fernández de Castro
presented a catalog of Cuban fossils that included five genera and 13 species of
sharks, but the names of the taxa were not listed. He also reported that C.
megalodon teeth were found frequently west of Matanzas, and he identified H.
serra as a typical Tertiary fossil from Cuba. The most important taxonomic paper
about Cuban sharks was that of M. Sánchez Roig (1920) in which 12 species from
six different genera were described and some were illustrated.
The senior author started this project in 1992 with the purpose of evaluating
the biogeographic information that Cuban fossil Elasmobranchii might provide for
use in tectonic and paleogeographic reconstruction of the Caribbean area.
Following is an interesting result related to the Lower-Middle Miocene
paleooceanography.
Abbreviations
MNHNH: Museo Nacional de Historia Natural de La Habana
MNHNH-P: Paleontological collections of Museo Nacional de Historia Natural de La
Habana
IGP: Instituto de Geología y Paleontología de La Habana
CATALOG OF CUBAN FOSSIL ELASMOBRANCHII
The authors have examined the paleontological collections of Museo
Nacional de Historia Natural in Havana, Museo Provincial "Ignacio Agramonte" in
Camagüey, Museo Municipal de Cárdenas in Matanzas, and Instituto de Geología y
Paleontología in Havana (where some of Sanchez Roig's materials are stored), and
the private collection of J. L. Fernández Millera stored at the Instituto de Ecología y
Sistemática in Havana. Unfortunately, some of these materials have very poor
locality descriptions and age assignments are often questionable. For several
examples, we were unable to identify the stratigraphic horizon with certainty.
During the last four years, several paleontological sites yielding well localized
material were established by the MNHNH staff, in collaboration with curators of
local museums and paleontologists from the American Museum of Natural History
(AMNH, New York).
Here is reported for Cuba 19 species belonging to 10 different genera (table
1), most of them of worldwide distribution. Some of these species are illustrated
in plate I. We identified the Cuban fossil material available in Cuban public and
private collections, and the specimens were later sent for verification to Robert
Purdy (Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.). The identification of those
specimens that were not available, was evaluated according to the illustrations
provided in the paper, as in the example of Sánchez Roig (1920). The species
listed without illustrations (i.e: Fernández de Castro 1873, 1876; Burchard, 1920;
Sánchez Roig, 1928; Kruckow and Thies, 1990) were not accepted as a good
record.
2
These fossils were exposed in the Universal Exhibition held in Paris, 1867.
3
The fossil sharks reported by Fernández de Castro (1973, 1976) were not
available, but some of the taxa have been reported later and there is fossil
material available. Leriche (1938) revised the identifications of Sánchez Roig
(1920) assuming that the age of the specimens was Miocene or Pliocene, so he
misidentified several species (Table 2). Sánchez Roig's figured material probably
were lost, but additional material collected and identified by him is preserved at
the collection of IGP. Table 2 indicates our assignment of the specimens figured
by Sánchez Roig (1920).
In 1928, Sánchez Roig published a catalog of the shark teeth stored in the
collections of the Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Museo de
Historia Natural in Havana. The catalog included specimens he identified as Lamna
elegans, L. longidens, L. cuspidata, Isurus hastalis, Carcharodon auriculatus, C.
lanciformis and C. megalodon. He only illustrated C. megalodon, and we could
not validate his other identifications. In the same paper, Sánchez Roig corrected
to Eocene his previous Miocene age assignment for the sequence of "Tejar
Consuelo" (Sánchez Roig, 1920). But both Eocene and Miocene shark-bearing
rocks crop out at the quarry (Bronnimann and Rigassi, 1963), as we will discuss
later.
At the Instituto de Geología y Paleontología we examined shark teeth
collected and identified by Sánchez Roig from "Tejar Consuelo" quarry in the city of
Havana, but none of the specimens can be identified as those illustrated in his
1920 paper.
In this collection his identification of Lamna longidens is a
fragmentary tooth of Carcharodon sp. Several teeth labeled as "Middle Eocene"
Isurus desori should be referred to Stratolamia macrota. An eroded tooth
identified as Hemipristis serra has some similarities to Galeocerdo. Several teeth
were correctly labeled as G. contortus and I. hastali.
From Charco Redondo Mine J. W. Gidley (in Burchard 1920) identified three
species of sharks. He explained that Lamna cf. L. elegans teeth "are not typical
L. elegans but seemed nearer this species than any other described. I. hastalis, or
very near this species. Carcharodon auriculatus (?), the large serrate tooth is like
this species only more slender than usual. These teeth seem to be of Cretaceous
or Tertiary, probably Eocene age." We do not know the repository of these
specimens, and they were not illustrated, so we can not verify Gidley's
identifications. The collection of IGP contains specimens identified as I. desori and
I. hastalis from the Charco Redondo Mines district (table 3). Most of these teeth
can be referred to S. macrota, but some are definitely Isurus sp. Additionally, in
the catallog of IGP it is recorded I. hastalis associated with Carcharodon sp. from
an Eocene locality in central Cuba.
Kruckow and Thies (1990, Table 12) listed Aetobatus poeyi as Eocene, and
the following Miocene species of Cuban Elasmobranchii (Eugomphodus
acutissimus, E? sp., Procarcharodon megalodon, Carcharodon carcharias, Isurus
desori, I. hastalis, Hemipristis serra, Galeocerdo aduncus, Sphirna sp.). This is the
list of Leriche (1938) based on Sánchez Roig's (1920) descriptions and
illustrations. Leriche assumed that all the specimens illustrated by Sánchez Roig
from "Tejar Consuelo" quarry were Miocene or Pliocene in age, so he review
Sánchez Roig's identifications with this opinion in mine. The authors have found
that latest Eocene and Miocene fossils were actually recovered from "Tejar
Consuelo" quarry, so the identifications by Leriche (1938) require further revision.
4
Table 2 show the species identified and figured by Sánchez Roig (1920), the
opinion of Leriche (1938) concerning these taxa, and that of the present authors
taking into consideration not only the descriptions and excellent illustrations of
Sánchez Roig, but also additional material from "Tejar Consuelo" quarry collected
by Sánchez Roig. Representative specimens are illustrated in figure 1.
Figure 1. Photographs of some Cuban fossil shark teeth, actual size. For locality of specimen see
table 3. A. Carcharhinus obscurus, MNHNH-P-3033. B. Carcharhinus perezi, MNHNH-P-2027. C.
Carcharias taurus, MNHNH-P-2166. D. Carcharodon auriculatus, left to right: MNHNH-P-2043,
2049, 2048. E. Carcharodon subauriculatus, MNHNH-P-2142, 2150. F. Galeocerdo contortus,
MNHNH-P-2216. G. Hemipristis serra, MNHNH-P-3036. H. Hemipristis serra, MNHNH-P-3034. I.
Negaprion brevirostris, MNHNH-P-3037. J. Sphyrna mokarran, MNHNH-P-3032. K. Striatolamia
macrota, MNHNH-P-2054-2057.
5
Figure 2. Location map of main Cuban Elasmobranchii fossil localities. Distribution of Carcharodon
megalodon fossil sites and phosphatic rocks in Cuba.
A comprehensive catalog of Cuban fossil Elasmobranchii is presented in
table 3. The following paragraphs comment on the localities and ages for Cuban
fossil Elasmobranchii.
Paleocene
Paleocene shark teeth are found in the MNHNH-P collection, with additional
material loaned from the private collection of J. M. Fernández Milera.
The
manganese-bearing matrix from all the specimens suggest localities in the
Cordillera de Guaniguanico, Pinar del Río, where manganese ore deposits are
concentrated in the deep-water limestones and shales of the Paleocene Ancón
Formation.
There are few possibilities for the younger formations to be
fossiliferous. The Lower Eocene rocks on top of Ancón are devoid of macrofossils
because represent clastic to chaotic synthrust sedimentation in the foldbelt. Middle
Eocene and younger rocks are not known from Guaniguanico (Pszczolkowski 1978,
Iturralde-Vinent 1994).
The actual paleontological sites are poorly identified. Some teeth found in
the collection of MNHNH-P (table 3) are reported to be from Pico Chico, Sierra de
San Andrés, about 6 km south of La Palma. Two manganese mines are known
near this location. The site yield Striatolamia sp. and additional unidentified
shark teeth.
Several teeth loaned by J. M. Fernández Milera belong to a
manganese deposit in "Alturas de Pizarras, Cordillera de Guaniguanico, Pinar del
Río." Carcharodon landenensis is identified from his collection.
Another locality bearing shark teeth in Guaniguanico, poorly located as "near
the small village of San Cayetano", was reported to Rafael Quiñones (MNHNH) by a
group of young naturalists. They collected many specimens, but most of them
were lost. A fragmentary tooth can be refered to C. auriculatus, and two
fragmentary teeth as Striatolamia sp. All of them have manganese stain.
6
Eocene
Eocene fossil shark localities are known in eastern Cuba (Charco Redondo
Mines district), central Cuba (near Florida and near Cienfuegos), Havana Province
(Nazareno), and Havana city ("Tejar Consuelo" quarry).
The manganese ores with fossil sharks in Charco Redondo Mines district are
known to be associated with the Middle Eocene Charco Redondo limestones
(Burchard 1920; Lewis and Straczek 1955). We identified C. auriculatus and S.
macrota (tables 1) from a collection of several hundred teeth found embedded in
the manganese ore (pyrolusite) of the Charco Redondo Mine. The collection is
housed at Museo Provincial "Ignacio Agramonte" in Camagüey, but some
representative specimens are deposited in the paleontological collections of
MNHNH (table 3). According to Burchard (1920) the fossiliferous horizon is 1.8 to
3 m thick breccia with clays, sand, and boulders of oolitic limestone in manganese
ore matrix with ..."a crust slightly richer in manganese oxide" with abundant shark
teeth. The breccia is located within limestones and argillaceous limestones of the
Charco Redondo Formation of early Middle Eocene age (Lewis and Straczek 1955).
The shark species identified by J.W. Gidley (in Burchard 1920) were not illustrated
so they can not be verified. From the Charco Redondo Mines district are stored
shark teeth at the IGP collection (table 3) that the authors identified as C.
auriculatus, S. macrota and Isurus sp. The specimens of Isurus sp. resemble I.
hastalis, but are smaller and fragmentary.
From the area near Central (sugar mill) Argentina, in the Camagüey
province, Late Oligocene I. hastalis and Carcharodon sp. are reported in the IGP
catalog, but the specimens were lost. It is not known who identified the species.
The senior author mapped the area of Central Argentina and found only Lower to
Middle Eocene rocks.
Also at the IGP collection there is a tooth collected near Nazareno, a small
town at the Havana Province, that can be identified as S. macrota (table 3). In
this area the senior author mapped the Middle to Late Eocene sequence of the
Nazareno Group (Albear and Iturralde-Vinent 1985).
The sharks teeth from "Tejar Consuelo" quarry unfortunately were mixed
Eocene and Miocene specimens during the collection (Sánchez Roig, 1920; 1928).
Eocene taxa can be easily identified, but the problem is that different Eocene units
crop out at "Tejar Consuelo" quarry (Bronnimann and Rigassi, 1963): the Lower
Eocene Capdevila Formation (sandstones and shales), the Middle Eocene
Universidad Formation (deep-water radiolarian marls), and the Upper Eocene
Consuelo Formation (marls with planktonic forams, gastropods and echinoids). At
the same locality, the Lower Miocene Husillo limestones and the Middle Miocene
Cojimar marly limestones and limestones crop out. No reworking is reported in
this Miocene sequence (Bronnimann and Rigassi, 1963; Albear and IturraldeVinent, 1985). The source of the Eocene shark teeth can be either the Universidad
or Consuelo Formations, as the Eocene teeth are embedded in marls (Sánchez
Roig, 1920, Fig. 13). From this quarry fossil can be identified as latest the Middle
to Late Eocene species: C. auriculatus (tables 2) and S. macrota (table 3). The
specimens of S. macrota preserved at the IGP collection are embedded in yellow
soft marls. The rock was sampled for age identification. According to Timothy
Bralower (University of North Carolina), José Fernández and Silvia Blanco (Cuba
Petroleum, CUPET), the samples include the following latest Eocene planktonic
7
microfossils (nannofossils zones NP19-20): Chiloguembelina sp., Reticulofenestra
hillae, R. umbilicus, Dictyococcoites scrippsae, D. bisectus, Sphenolithus
predistentus, Calcidiscus protoannulus and the very rare Discoaster barbadiensis,
Ericsonia subdisticha, E. formosa and Campylosphaera dela. Therefore, it is
possible to refer C auriculatus and S. macrota from Sánchez Roig's materials to the
Late Eocene Consuelo Formation.
The batoid Aetobatus poeyi was described by Fernández de Castro (1873)
from a locality in the lands of Ingenio (sugar mill) Constancia (today Moncada)
northwest of the city of Cienfuegos (Fig. 2). The Eocene age for this species
assigned by Fernández de Castro (1873) is questionable. According to Fernández
de Castro (1973) the fossil was collected in rocks that crop out in the lower reach
of Damují river basin. He supposed that the underlying rocks are of Cretaceous
age, and indicate that the overlain horizon resemble the C. megalodon -bearing
rocks in other localities of the country. The age needs to be verified in the future.
Lower and Middle Miocene
Lower and Middle Miocene Elasmobranchii are common in Cuban natural
history collections, reported mostly from localities in western Cuba (fig. 2).
A well-dated late Lower Miocene assemblage was found at Domo de Zaza in
south-central Cuba. From this site were collected very few teeth of Carcharinus
obscurus, Hemipristis serra, Negaprion brevirostris, Sphyrna mokarran and
unidentified batoid tail spines (table 3). The site has been described in greater
detail elsewhere (MacPhee and Iturralde-Vinent, 1994; MacPhee and others, in
prep.). The section, about ten meters thick, is composed of interbedded shallow
marine limestones and marls, alluvial sands and gravels, lagoonal clays and
paleosols. The shark teeth and batoid teeth and tail spine are found in lag
deposits, derived from the marine units. At this site fossil remains of bony fishes,
crocodiles, sirenians (dugongs), turtles and land mammals (including a sloth, a
primate and a rodent) were found. Fossils reworked from older horizons are not
found.
At several quarries within the city of Havana Lower and Middle Miocene
limestones and marls have yielded shark teeth (Sánchez Roig 1920, 1928; table
3). From Miocene (Cojímar Formation) rocks in "Tejar Consuelo" quarry we were
able to validate as probably Miocene taxa: H. serra, C. megalodon, C. carcharias,
I. hastalis, C. taurus, G. contortus and S. prisca (?).
Another Lower-Middle Miocene site is the Phosphorite Mine (Mederos 1987)
west of Loma Candela, 6 km northwest of Güines, in the province of Havana (fig.
2). At this locality Carcharias taurus, C. subauriculatus, I. hastalis and I. sp. cf.
I. desori (table 3) were identified from approximately 200 fragmentary teeth
collected from a thin phosphorite bed at the base of the Middle Miocene limestone
section (Cojímar Formation). These teeth are associated with fragmentary sirenian
bones and a fragment of a batoid tail spine. The material lack evidence of
reworking from older sources. The bed comprises rounded, non-fossiliferous,
calcareous, phosphorite-rich pellets, a few centimeters in diameter, directly
overlying Lower Eocene deep-water marls lacking macrofossils. There were no
microfossils in the matrix of the phosphorite bed, but its stratigraphic position is
almost certainly Lower-Middle Miocene (Mederos 1987).
8
The senior author has contacted private collectors in Havana, and has
learned that C. megalodon teeth are being found at Cantera del Husillo (type
locality of the Lower Miocene Husillo Formation of Bronnimann and Rigassi, 1963)
and other quarries in the city that exploit the same limestones. The IGP records
contain an unverified report of C. megalodon from the type locality of the early
Middle Miocene Cojímar Formation, in Cojímar, near Havana city (table 3).
At several localities in the city of Havana, and in the provinces of Havana
and Matanzas (fig. 2) C. megalodon teeth have been recovered with those of
Carcharhinus perezi, Hemipristis serra and Galeocerdo contortus (table 3). The
locations of these fossil sites are too general to enable the identification of the
horizons that could include the Lower Miocene Husillo limestones, the Middle
Miocene Cojímar marls and limestones, or the Lower-Middle Miocene Güines
limestones (Iturralde-Vinent, 1969; Albear and Iturralde-Vinent, 1985). Fossil
remains of dugongs have been reported in the Lower-Middle Miocene limestones of
the Güines Formation as well.
A fragmentary dental plate recovered from the Middle Miocene Cojímar
Formation was identified by Sánches Roig (IGP collection, table 3) as Aetobatus
poeyi . The identification of the species, collected from Cantera Cojímar in Havana,
is highly questionable, in the present state of preparation of the specimen. Another
very large and complete batoid dental plate embedded in Middle Miocene
limestones of the Güines Formation was recently discovered in a cave located near
Cueva de Paredones, south of Ceiba del Agua (table 3). Both specimens are
currently under study.
Late Miocene-Pliocene(?)
Quarries near the city of Cárdenas produce Late Miocene-Pliocene(?)
calcarenites of the Canímar Formation (Iturralde-Vinent, 1969) (fig. 2). The
quarries at Loma Fines offer some of the best fossil-collecting sites in the region.
From them several well-preserved teeth of C. megalodon recovered by J. M.
Fernández Milera were identified by present authors and reside in the collections of
Museo Municipal de Cárdenas (Matanzas) and in MNHNH (table 3). Workers at the
Loma Fines quarries claim to have found an entire jaw of C. megalodon and a
body impression, but only the teeth were recovered. Bony fish impressions are
known from Loma Fines quarries.
Many large teeth are owned by private
collectors.
PALEOOCEANOGRAPHIC IMPLICATIONS
SHARKS BIOGEOGRAPHY
OF
LOWER-MIDDLE
MIOCENE
Lower to Middle Miocene Elasmobranchii have an interesting distribution in
Cuba that deserves special consideration. Figure 1 shows that the gigantic C.
megalodon has been reported only in western Cuba (Havana and Matanzas
provinces).
The senior author has conducted field work and paleontological
prospection throughout the entire island without discovering further C. megalodon
localities, although Lower and Middle Miocene rocks are well represented in the
whole country (Iturralde-Vinent, 1969, 1994). The huge teeth of C. megalodon are
very popular among collectors. They are often collected by workers at quarries,
constructions sites and farm fields, but no reports of this species are known
elsewhere in the country.
9
Figure 3. Paleogeographic maps of the Caribbean indicating paleocurrents. A from Early Miocene to
Early Middle Miocene, b. from latest Eocene to Early Oligocene. Modified from Emery and Uchupi
(1972), Riggs (1984), Iturralde-Vinent (1969, 1988), Mederos (1987), Mederos and Franco 1992,
Denny (1992), Denny and others (1994), MacPhee and Iturralde-Vinent (1994), Atlas Nacional de
Cuba (1970) and data presented in this paper. Occurrences of C. carcharodon after Kruckow and
Thies (1990).
A comparison (table 4) shows that different Lower and Middle Miocene shark
assemblages occur in central (Domo de Zaza) and western Cuba (HavanaMatanzas), with only one species common to both areas (Fig. 2). The taxa found
at Havana-Matanzas includes some sharks whose present-day representatives are
found strictly in deep oceanic basins. Isurus species and C. carcharias live in
those conditions today, and C. megalodon would probably have preferred the
same habitat. In contrast, the Domo de Zaza assemblage includes species that
prey in shallow, nearshore environments, such as Negaprion brevirostris. These
distributions are based on collections of fossils representing five years detail work
at Domo de Zaza, and more than one hundred years of collecting around Havana
and Matanzas. Thus, the pattern of distribution of C. megalodon and associated
species may not be an artifact, but reflects environmental and/or biological factors.
Other occurrences of C. megalodon in the Caribbean basin and its surroundings
(Kruckow and Thies (1990) and figure 2) suggest that the gigantic shark was
10
preying across the Caribbean Sea, moving from and to- the Pacific and Atlantic
Oceans.
Table 4. Lower--Middle Miocene sharks from localities in Havana and Matanzas provinces and central
Cuba (= Domo de Zaza).
Taxon
Domo de
Zaza
Carcharhinus perezi
Carcharihnus obscurus
Carcharias taurus
Carcharodon carcharias
Carcharodon megalodon
Carcharodon subauriculatus
Galeocerdo contortus
Hemipristis serra
Isurus hastalis
Negaprion brevirostris
Sphyrna mokarran
Sphyrna prisca (?)
HavanaMatanzas
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
The known distribution pattern of C. megalodon and other sharks, as
previously discussed, will be further explored in order to evaluate its possible
implications.
Stratigraphic and paleogeographic research in Cuba demonstrate that during
the Latest Eocene and untill early Middle Miocene most of present-day Cuba and its
marine shelf were covered by deep-water basins separated by shallows seas and
isolated lands (see paleogeographic maps in Iturralde-Vinent, 1969, 1988;
MacPhee and Iturralde-Vinent 1994; MacPhee and others, in prep.; also
Brezsnyánszky e Iturralde-Vinent 1978, 1985). Sea-water circulation accross
present day Cuba most probably took place along two main deeper water
channels, one in western Cuba (Havana-Matanzas Channel) and another in eastern
Cuba, the northeast trending Cauto-Nipe Channel (figs. 12 - 14 of Iturralde-Vinent,
1988). The Havana-Matanzas Channel efficiently connected the Caribbean Sea with
the Atlantic Ocean via the Strait of Florida; and the Cauto-Nipe Channel connected
the Caribbean Sea with the Old Bahama Channel (Fig. 3).
During Middle Miocene an important tectonic event took place in Cuba and
both deeper-water channels practically close due to shallowing of the sea and
homogenization of the marine environment.
Extensive carbonate platform
deposition took place all along the Cuban territory (Iturralde-Vinent, 1969, 1978,
1988, 1994; MacPhee and Iturralde-Vinent 1994, MacPhee and others, in prep.).
Before this event took place large parts of the present day Cuban territory were
covered by shallow waters, with small islands, keys and locally shallows. Coastal
plains, ponds estuarine and lagoonal environments are represented by clays,
sandy clays, gravels, marls and a few limestones intercalations which yield a fossil
biota typical of fresh, and brackish waters. This kind of sections are represented by
the Paso Real (pars), Arabos, Lagunilla and Magantilla Formations.
Local
carbonate banks (biogenic limestones and calcarenites) are represented by the
Paso Real (pars), Husillo and Güines (pars) Formations (Iturralde-Vinent 1969,
1978, 1988).
There are two exceptions to these shallow-water depositional
pattern. The Havana and Matanzas Channel that was a NNW-SSE trending broad
marine basin were sedimentation of hemipelagic marls and limestones of the
11
Jaruco and Cojímar Formations took place (Bronnimann and Rigassi, 1963;
Iturralde-Vinent 1969; Albear and Iturralde-Vinent, 1985); and the Cauto-Nipe
Channel were hemipelagic marls and limestones of the "Nipe Series" were
deposited (Iturralde-Vinent, 1969; 1978).
This paleogeographic framework
drastically changed during the second half of the Middle Miocene, around the
Globorotalia fohsi-Globorotalia mayeri zones, when ended the deposition of the
Cojímar and equivalent deeper-water Formations and most of Cuba was covered
by extensive carbonate platform environments. Later since the Late Miocene the
whole territory emerged nearly as it is today, and no further marine channel
evolved up to the present (Iturralde-Vinent, 1969, 1988).
Seismic stratigraphy studies carried out in the southern Florida Channel
provide important information related to the paleogeographic framework described
for Cuba. From Maastrichtian to the late Oligocene the west Florida ramp
aggraded. There was little winnowing and no evidence of erosional surfaces. Within
the late Oligocene-early Miocene period this aggradational ramp began to prograde
from the east as illustrated by west dipping clinoforms. The Suwannee Strait
closed at this time deflecting the Suwanee Current to the south thus forming the
precursor to the modern Loop Current, but not as strong as the modern system
(Hine 1993). During the Middle Miocene (12-15 M.y.), the Florida carbonate-ramp
slope experienced an oceanographic event related to strong seafloor erosion that
resulted in a major stratigraphic break (Mullins et al. 1987). Erosion took place on
the Pourtales Terrace (Gomberg, 1974) and the Miami Terrace (Mullins and
Newmann, 1979) along with a 50% decrease in the rate of sediment accumulation
in the southern Straits of Florida (Austin and others, 1988). The modern Loop
Current/Gulf Stream circulation was initiated and carbonate deposition changed
drastically into a pelagic slope-front-fill system (Mullins et al. 1987). The usual
explanation for this Middle Miocene event is that it was related to major tectonic
changes within the Caribbean. This tectonic event is usually interpreted as the
closure of the Panama Strait and collapse of the Nicaragua megabank, and
therefore the Caribbean Current was feeded by the Guyana Current from the
equatorial Atlantic and the speed of the flow increased in the Loop Current (Mullins
et al. 1987, Hine 1993).
The paleogeographic and oceanographic change recorded in Cuba and the
Straits of Florida within the Middle Miocene have counterparts in the Nicaragua
Rise (Droxler and others, 1989), the Aves Ridge (MacPhee and Iturralde-Vinent
1995), and may be related to general tectonic deformation in the Caribbean (Mann
and others, 1990, Iturralde-Vinent, 1994). The Late Tertiary paleogeographic
reconstruction of the eastern Caribbean (Fox, 1971; Donnelly, 1989; MacPhee and
Iturralde-Vinent, 1994, 1995) suggests that during the latest Eocene-early
Miocene, the Aves Ridge existed as a N-S possitive barrier between South America
and the Greater Antilles. This feature strongly reduced the sea-water circulation
from the Equatorial Atlantic into the Caribbean. The Nicaragua megabank also
represent a major obstacle for free circulation of the marine waters. At that time,
the Caribbean Current possibly was fed only from the Pacific Ocean through the
"Straits of Panama", resulting in a considerably lessened water flow. Subsidence
of the Aves Ridge since the Miocene and up to the present (Fox et al. 1971), and
the fragmentation of the Nicaragua rise (Droxler and others, 1989), gave rise to
the continuity between the Guyana and the Caribbean Current and produced an
increase of the water flow toward the west and northwest (Fig. 3).
12
Information concerning phosphatic deposits shade new light on this subject.
Lower to Middle Miocene phosphatic rocks are known in different places in HavanaMatanzas and Banes (Cuba, fig. 2), the Florida peninsula (Scott 1988) and South
Carolina (Riggs, 1984; Mederos, 1987), associated with shallow marine rocks
fringing deep seaways (fig. 2). According to Mederos (1987) and Mederos and
Franco (1992) the Caribbean Current was the source of the phosphate for the
Cuban deposits, and speculated that the phosphatic sources were submarine
volcanoes within the Caribbean sea floor, the Lesser Antilles and northern South
America (see his figure 9). We agree that the Caribbean surface current was
involve in the transportation of phosphates, but more probably as nekton and zoophytoplankton that, after dead, sank to the sea botton. The biomass in the warm
Guyana/Caribbean Currents was probably high, enhanced by the organic input of
the Orinoco, Amazon and other South American rivers. In Cuba, the deeper-water
Jaruco and Cojímar Formations yield abundant benthic and nectic biotas, as long
as a large number of planktic microfossils (Bronnimann and Rigassi, 1963;
Iturralde-Vinent, 1969). The concentration of the Lower and Middle Miocene
phosphates in the Havana-Matanzas and Banes areas of Cuba (fig. 2) is in
agreement with the paleogeographic pattern generally recognized for the
formations of these ores. It is, a shallow shelf with low detrital imput fringing a
major seaway (Havana-Matanzas and Cauto-Nipe Channels). In this conditions,
upwelling of cold waters into the shelf concentrate the phospates that often yield
abundant fossil shark teeth (Riggs, 1984; Mederos and Franco, 1992).
Previous data provide the background necessary to explain the Lower-Middle Miocene biogeography of C. megalodon. The Late Tertiary paleogeography
of the Caribbean as discussed previously suggests that during the Latest EoceneOligocene there existed several barriers-the Aves Ridge and the Nicaragua
megabank-that impede active deep and surface water circulation within the
Caribbean Sea. That pattern would explain why the Loop/Gulf Stream Current
flowed slowly through the Straits of Florida during late Eocene, Oligocene and early
Miocene epochs, producing active progradation of the west Florida slope (Mullins et
al. 1987, Denny, 1992; Hine 1993; Denny and others, 1994). Continual subsiding
of the Aves Ridge (Holcombe and others, 1990) and fragmentation of the
Nicaragua megabank (Droxler and others, 1989) during the Lower Miocene,
modified this flow pattern. Therefore, the South Atlantic (= Guyana) current has
been increasing the water flow rate into the Caribbean Sea, since the Miocene.
As a consequence of these events, the Caribbean Current heading northwest
divided into two branches in the western Caribbean-one following the Yucatan
Channel, the other flowing across the Havana-Matanzas Channel (Figure 2). The
branch following toward the Yucatan Channel join the Loop Current and produced
the Early Miocene progradation from the east in the west Florida slope. The other
branch turned due north just southeast of the Isle of Youth (south of central
Cuba), then flowed across the Havana-Matanzas Channel to join the Florida-Gulf
Stream flow. Under such conditions, Lower Miocene and early Middle Miocene
sharks swam between the Atlantic shores of North America and the Caribbean Sea
via the Havana-Matanzas Channel, that offered a favourable environment rich in
prey.
About late Middle Miocene, the Havana-Matanzas Channel closed in response
to extensive shallowing of marine environments and the uplifting of some parts of
the Cuban territory, confining the Caribbean Current to the Yucatan Channel, as it
13
is confined today. This concentration of flow could possibly explain the strong
erosion that took place during the Middle Miocene in the southern Straits of Florida
(Mullins et al., 1987; Austin and others, 1988; Denny and others, 1994). The
timing of this event can be coincidental with the change from deep to shallow
water environment in western Cuba, a process that took place within the
Globorotalia foshi s.l. and the Globorotalia mayeri zones (age of the top of the
Cojímar Formation; Iturralde-Vinent 1969).
Conclusions
1. It is presented a revised list of Cuban fossil Elasmobranchii (19 species from 10
genera) based on material preserved in several natural history collections of Cuba
and reports in the literature.
2. These Cuban taxa were recovered from Paleocene, Middle Eocene, Late Eocene,
Lower-Middle Miocene and Late Miocene-Pliocene rocks.
3. Lower to Middle Miocene Elasmobranchii known from western Cuba (HavanaMatanzas) are different from those found elsewhere in the territory. The HavanaMatanzas sharks include deep-water dwelling species as Isurus, C. calcharias and
C. megalodon.
4. This biogeographic pattern in Elasmobranchii, as long as stratigraphic and
paleogeographic research demonstrate that from Late Eocene untill early Middle
Miocene there was a deep-water channel in western Cuba (Havana-Matanzas
Channel). The Caribbean Current flowed along this channel since Late Oligocene
untill Middle Miocene, but this water gate closed within the Globorotalia fohsi s.l.Globorotalia mayeri zones.
5. The closure of the Havana-Matanzas Channel was probably coincidental with
important tectonic and oceanographic changes that took place elsewhere in the
Caribbean and the west Florida slope.
Acknowledgments
The authors wish to thank RARE Center for Tropical Conservation for partially supporting this
research through its Caribbean Scientific Initiative. Alfonso Silva Lee (Museo Nacional de Historia
Natural, La Habana) kindly photographed the specimens. We thank Clare Flemming (AMNH) for
copy-editing and proofreading. Drawings of shark teeth were produced by Stephen Díaz Franco
(MNHNH) and computer illustrations by the senior author. The authors gratefully acknowledge the
suggestions offered by J. D. Steward (NHM, Los Angeles County), Marcelo de Carvalho (AMNH, New
York), Richard T. Buffler (UTIG, Austin) and Albert Hine (CMR, University of South Florida). We
specially thank Robert Purdy (Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C.) for his revision of our
identifications and his very careful critical review of the first draft of the manuscript. José Fernández
and Silvia Blanco (Cuba Petroleum, La Habana) and Tim Bralower (University of North Carolina,
Chapel Hill) identified the microfossils from two samples. The authors are grateful to curators of the
Instituto de Geología y Paleontología and the natural history collections in Cárdenas, Camagüey and
other cities of Cuba for permission to study their respective fossil collections, to J. M. Fernández
Milera, who loaned his private collection and provided important information and to J. A. Genaro who
provided some specimens and important locality information.
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14
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Gomberg, D., 1974. Geology of the Pourtales Terrace. Florida Science v. 37, suppl. 1: 15 p.
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geology; ridge and basins of the plate interior, in Dengo, G. and Case J.E., eds. The Caribbean
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Moscow (English version)].
Iturralde-Vinent, M., 1988. Naturaleza Geológica de Cuba. Editorial Científico-Técnica, La Habana,
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Geology, 17 (1): 39-71.
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Kruckow, T. and Thies, D., 1990. Die neoselachier der Paläokaribik (Pisces: Elasmobranchii): Courier
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Survey Bull. 59: 1-148.
16
Table 1. List of Cuban shark taxa identified by the authors, and a guide to the plates.
TAXON
PALEO-
MIDDLE
LOWER-
LATE
Plate I:
CENE
-LATE
MIDDLE
MIOCENE-
figure
(?)
EOCENE
MIOCENE
PLIOCENE
Carcharhinus obscurus
X
1
Carcharhinus perezi
X
2
Carcharias taurus
X
3
*Carcharodon auriculatus
Carcharodon landenensis
X
4
X
-
Carcharodon carcharias
X
Carcharodon megalodon
X
Carcharodon subauriculatus
X
5
Galeocerdo contortus
X
6
Hemipristis serra
X
7, 8
Isurus sp.
X
X
-
-
Isurus hastalis
X
-
Isurus sp. cf. I. desori
X
-
Negaprion brevirostris
X
9
Sphyrna mokarran
X
10
Sphyrna prisca (?)
X
(**)
Striatolamia macrota
Striatolamia sp.
X
11
X
-
Myliobatidae
X
Aetobatus poeyi
X(?)
-
(*) Some authors as Cappetta (1987) place the species megalodon, auriculatus and subauriculatus
in the genus Carcharocles, but Kruchow and Thies (1990) place the species megalodon and
auriculatus in the genus Procarcharodon.
(**) This species was identified from an illustration by Sánchez Roig (1920), but they must be
verified with actual material in the future.
17
Table 2. Cuban shark taxa identified by Sánchez Roig (1920), and by Leriche (1938), based on the
Sanchez Roig's illustrations and descriptions. Leriche assumed that all specimens were Miocene or
Pliocene in age. Present authors' identifications based on the 1920 illustrations and descriptions, plus
examination of some additional specimens collected by Sánchez Roig at the same localities. The age
of some specimens was found to be Latest Eocene (see text for details).
Shark taxon
sensu Sánchez Roig
Figures in
Sánchez
Roig
(1920)
Shark taxon
Shark taxon
sensu Leriche
sensu present authors
Lamna cuspidata
1, 2
Hemipristis serra
Hemipristis serra
Lamna elegans
3, 4
Odontapsis acutissima
Carcharias taurus
Lamna contortidens
5
Odontapsis acutissima
Carcharias taurus
Lamna longidens
-
Isurus hastalis
6, 7
Oxyrhina hastalis
Isurus hastalis
Isurus desori *
8, 9
Oxyrhina desori
Stratolamia macrota *
Isurus minutus
10
Odontapsis (?) sp.
Isurus sp. (juvenil?)
Carcharodon auriculatus *
11, 12, 13
Carcharodon sp.
Carcharodon auriculatus *
Carcharodon megalodon
14-17, 21
Carcharodon megalodon
Carcharodon megalodon
Carcharodon lanciformis
18, 19
Carcharodon carcharias
Carcharodon carcharias
Galeocerdo contortus
20
Galeocerdo aduncus
Galeocerdo contortus
Sphyrna prisca
22
Sphirna sp.
Sphyrna prisca (?)
(*) These specimens are embedded in Latest Eocene marls
18
Table 3. Catalog of Cuban fossil sharks in the paleontological collections of Museo Nacional de Historia Natural in
Havana and the Institute of Geology and Paleontology. ## Repository unknow. JMFM Private collection of J. M.
Fernández Milera. ID = Identification by (1) present authors, (2) Sánchez Roig (1920) revised by the authors, and (3)
by J. W. Gidley in Burchard (1920)
#
JMFM
AGE
TAXON
Late Miocene- Carcharodon megalodon
Pliocene
JMFM
Late Miocene- Carcharodon megalodon
Pliocene
JMFM
Late Miocene- Carcharodon megalodon
Pliocene
JMFM
Late Miocene- Carcharodon megalodon
Pliocene
LOCALITY
ID
1
Collected by L. M.
Fernández Milera.
1
Collected by L. M.
Fernández Milera.
1
Collected by L. M.
Fernández Milera.
1
Collected by L. M.
Fernández Milera.
1
Additional material
deposited at the Museo
Municipal de Cárdenas,
Matanzas.
MNHNH
-P2020
Late Neogene
Carcharodon megalodon
MNHNH
-P2074
MNHNH
-P2021
MNHNH
-P2024
MNHNH
-P2082
MNHNH
-P2131-2138
Late Neogene
Carcharodon megalodon
Matanzas Prov., Municipio Cárdenas
1
Lower-Middle
Miocene
Miocene
Carcharodon megalodon (?)
fragmentary tooth
Carcharodon megalodon
Havana Prov., Municipio Madruga
1
1
Lower-Middle
Miocene
Lower-Middle
Miocene
Carcharodon megalodon (?)
fragmentary tooth
Carcharodon megalodon
Lower-Middle
Miocene
Carcharodon megalodon
La Posa (No further information
available)
Havana Prov., Tunel Calle 88a and
61, Marianao
City of Havana, Excavación en Calle
222, near Cimex. Escuela Politécnica
Química de Alimentación "Ejército
Rebelde"
Havana Prov., Municipio San José de
las Lajas, Limestone quarry Camoa y
Somorostro
MNHNH
-P2224
19
OBSERVATIONS
Matanzas Prov., Municipio Cárdenas,
Loma de Fines, Cueva Armada, 2 km
from Cárdenas
Matanzas Prov., Municipio Cárdenas,
Loma de Fines, 3 1/2 km from
Cárdenas a Coliseo
Matanzas Prov., Municipio Cárdenas,
Loma de Fines, Limestone quarry
Larrauri, 2 1/2 km from Cárdenas to
Coliseo.
Matanzas Prov., Municipio Cárdenas,
Loma de Fines, Limestone quarry
"Garriga," 3 km de Cárdenas
Matanzas Prov., Municipio Carlos
Rojas, Limestone quarry
1
Collected by Miguel L.
Jaume.
Collected by Ricardo
Lozano.
1
1
Collected by Stephen
Díaz.
MNHNH
-P2226
Lower-Middle
Miocene
Carcharodon megalodon
##
Lower-Middle
Miocene
Carcharodon megalodon
##
Middle
Miocene
Lower
Miocene
Carcharodon megalodon
Lower-Middle
Miocene
Lower-Middle
Miocene
Lower-Middle
Miocene
Carcharodon megalodon
Carcharodon megalodon
IGP
Lower-Middle
Miocene
Lower-Middle
Miocene
Miocene
##
Miocene
Carcharodon megalodon
MNHNH
-P2142,
2150
Lower
Miocene
Carcharodon subauriculatus
MNHNH
-P2027
Lower-Middle
Miocene
Carcharhinus perezi
MNHNH
-P2219,
3033
Lower
Miocene
Carcharhinus obscurus
##
##
##
##
IGP
IGP
Carcharodon megalodon
Carcharodon megalodon
Carcharodon megalodon
Carcharodon megalodon
Carcharodon megalodon
20
Havana Prov. , Municipio Tapaste,
Limestone quarry near the town of
Aguacate
Havana Prov., Municipio Plaza,
Canteras Sixto Abreus, Costado
south of Cementerio de Colón,
Vedado-Habana
City of Havana, Limestone quarry
"Cojímar," Reparto Cojímar
City of Havana, Limestone quarry
"Husillo"
1
Collected by J. González
Perez
2
Collected by M. Sánchez
Roig.
Havana Prov., Municipio San Antonio
de los Baños
Havana Prov., Municipio Arroyo
Naranjo, town of Arroyo Naranjo
Havana Prov., Municipio Arroyo,
locality of San Jose de las Lajas,
(Finca Cervantes)
Havana Prov., Municipio Artemisa,
quarry near Pijirigua
Havana Prov., Municipio Bejucal,
quarry near Cacahual
Matanzas Prov., Municipio Carlos
Rojas, quarry near Carlos Rojas town
City of Havana, Municipio Cerro,
Ferrocarril de Marianao, Estación La
Ceiba, Puentes Grandes
Havana Prov., Municipio Guines,
Phosphorite mine, 6 km NW of
Guines
2
From a fossil catalog at
IGP.
Reported and identified
by Giraldo Alayón
(MNHNH).
2
2
Collected by M. Sánchez
Roig.
1
1
1
1
1
Havana Prov., Municipio Caimito,
1
south of Ceiba del Agua. Secondary
deposit in Cueva Paredones
S. Spíritus Prov., Municipio La Sierpe, 1
Canal Presa Zaza, Domo de Zaza
Collected by M. Sánchez
Roig and reported in his
1920 paper.
Collected by J. A.
Genaro, R. Rojas, M.
Iturralde-Vinent,
Stephen Díaz, et al.
Collected by M.
Iturralde-Vinent .
Collected by R.
MacPhee, M. Smith, R.
Rojas, M. IturraldeVinent.
MNHNH
-P21652166
Lower
Miocene
Carcharias taurus
Havana Prov., Municipio Guines,
Phosphorite mine, 6 km NW of
Guines
MNHNH
-P2139
MNHNH
-P2227
MNHNH
-P2221,
3034,
3036
MNHNH
-P2214,
2215
MNHNH
-P3037
Lower-Middle
Miocene
Lower-Middle
Miocene
Lower
Miocene
Hemipristis serra
Matanzas Prov., Municipio Bolondrón, 1
secondary deposit in Cueva El Pichi
Havana Prov. Limestone quarry near
1
the town of Aguacate
S. Spíritus Prov., Municipio La Sierpe, 1
Canal Presa Zaza, Domo de Zaza
Miocene (?)
Hemipristis serra
Lower
Miocene
Negaprion brevirostris
MNHNH
-P3032
Lower
Miocene
Sphyrna mokarran
S. Spíritus Prov., Municipio La Sierpe, 1
Canal Presa Zaza, Domo de Zaza
Miocene (?)
Shark teeth
City of Havana, Municipio Vento
(Finca Francisco de Barcos)
MNHNH
-P2169
-2170,
2175
MNHNH
-P2185
Lower-Middle
Miocene
Isurus hastalis
Havana Prov., Municipio Guines,
Phosphorite mine, 6 km NW of
Guines
1
Lower-Middle
Miocene
Isurus sp. cf. I. desori
fragmentary tooth
Havana Prov., Municipio Guines,
Phosphorite mine, 6 km NW of
Guines
1
IGP-P23482354
MNHNH
-P2216
Lower-Middle
Miocene
Isurus hastalis
Miocene (?)
Galeocerdo contortus
##
Hemipristis serra
Hemipristis serra
21
1
City of Havana, Municipio Boyeros,
1
Alturas del Cacahual. Secondary
deposit in Cueva de la Diaclasa
S. Spíritus Prov., Municipio La Sierpe, 1
Canal Presa Zaza, Domo de Zaza
Collected by J. A.
Genaro, R. Rojas, M.
Iturralde-Vinent,
Stephen Díaz, et al.
Collected by Stephen
Díaz.
Collected by J. González
Perez
Collected by R.
MacPhee, M. Smith, R.
Rojas, M. IturraldeVinent.
Collected by Osvaldo
Jiménez.
Collected by R.
MacPhee, M. Smith, R.
Rojas, M. IturraldeVinent.
Collected by R.
MacPhee, M. Smith, R.
Rojas, M. IturraldeVinent.
Collected by M. Sánchez
Roig.. Identified as
Lamna (?) sp.
Collected by J. A.
Genaro, R. Rojas, M.
Iturralde-Vinent,
Stephen Díaz, et al.
Collected by J. A.
Genaro, R. Rojas, M.
Iturralde-Vinent,
Stephen Díaz, et al.
1
City of Havana, Municipio Boyeros,
Alturas del Cacahual. Secondary
deposit in Cueva de la Diaclasa
1
Collected by Osvaldo
Jiménez.
IGP
Miocene
Galeocerdo contortus
City of Havana, Municipio Cerro,
quarry "Tejar Consuelo" in Ciénaga
1
Miocene (?)
Galeocerdo (?) sp.
fragmentary tooth
City of Havana, Municipio Cerro,
quarry "Tejar Consuelo" in Ciénaga
1
##
Miocene
City of Havana, Municipio Cerro,
quarry "Tejar Consuelo" in Ciénaga
2
MNHNHP
Lower
Miocene
Carcharias taurus
Carcharodon megalodon
Carcharodon carcharias
Galeocerdo contortus
Isurus hastalis
Hemipristis serra
Carcharodon sp.
Sphyrna prisca (?)
Batoid tail spine
MNHNHP
Lower
Miocene
Batoid tail spine
Havana Prov., Municipio Guines,
Phosphorite mine, 6 km NW of
Guines
1
MNHNHP
Middle
Miocene
Myliobatidae
Lower dental plate
1
MNHNHP2218
Miocene (?)
Unidentified fragmentary teeth
IGP
Middle
Miocene
Myliobatidae
Fragmentary lower dental plate
MNHNH
unknown
Unidentified fragmentary teeth
Havana Prov., Municipio Caimito,
south of Ceiba del Agua, inside Cueva
del Bicho
City of Havana, Municipio Boyeros,
Alturas del Cacahual. Secondary
deposit in Cueva de la Diaclasa
City of Havana, Municipio de Cojímar,
Cojimar quarry. Type locality of
Cojímar Formation
Havana Prov., Municipio Bejucal,
Lecho del Arroyo Govea (Santa
Rosa)
IGP
(68a)
22
S. Spíritus Prov., Municipio La Sierpe, 1
Canal Presa Zaza, Domo de Zaza
1
1
1
Collected and identified
by M. Sánchez Roig, who
reported these teeth as
Middle Eocene.
Collected by M. Sánchez
Roig, who identified this
tooth as Middle Eocene
Hemipristis serra.
Collected by M. Sánchez
Roig and reported in his
1920 paper.
Collected by R.
MacPhee, M. Smith, R.
Rojas, M. IturraldeVinent.
Collected by J. A.
Genaro, R. Rojas, M.
Iturralde-Vinent,
Stephen Díaz, et al.
Collected by Grupo
Espeleológico
Cayoguasal
Collected by Osvaldo
Jiménez.
Collected by J.T. Sierra.
Identified by M. Sánchez
Roig as Aëtobatis poeyi
Collected by Osvaldo
Jiménez.
IGP
Eocene (?)
Shark teeth
Camagüey Prov., Central (sugar mill)
Florida (today = Argentina)
##
Latest Eocene
Carcharodon auriculatus
Striatolamia macrota
City of Havana, Municipio Cerro,
quarry "Tejar Consuelo" in Ciénaga
2
IGP
(L 508)
Latest Eocene
Striatolamia macrota
City of Havana, Municipio Cerro,
quarry "Tejar Consuelo" in Ciénaga
1
Middle-Late
Eocene
Middle
Eocene
Striatolamia macrota
Havana Prov., near the small town of
Nazareno
Granma Prov., Charco Redondo
Mines District
1
Middle
Eocene
Striatolamia macrota
Granma Prov., Charco Redondo
Mines District
1
IGP
MNHNH
-P2025,
2026,
2043,
20472049,
20522053.
20752076
MNHNH
-P20542063,
20702072,
20782081
Carcharodon auriculatus
23
1
From a fossil catalog in
IGP. This specimen is
reported as Late
Oligocene, but geological
maps indicate Eocene
outcrops in the area. The
species were identified
as Isurus hastalis and
Carcharodon sp.
Collected by M. Sánchez
Roig and reported in his
1920 paper
Collected by M. Sánchez
Roig, who identified the
(3) teeth as I. hastalis.
A. de la Torre change
the identification to I.
desiori. Specimen
embedded in yellow soft
marls of Latest Eocene
age
Identified by A. de la
Torre as Isurus
Additional material
deposited at Museo
Provincial "Ignacio
Agramontes" Camagüey
Province. Collected by
Juan Melo. Collected
inside the mine.
Additional material
deposited at Museo
Provincial "Ignacio
Agramontes" Camagüey
Province. Collected
inside the mine by Juan
Melo
##
Middle
Eocene
Carcharodon auriculatus (?)
Granma Prov., Charco Redondo Mines 3
District, Charco Redondo Mine
located 12.8 km SE of Santa Riuta
railroad station.
IGP3299
Middle
Eocene
Striatolamia cf. S. macrota
(fragmentary tooth )
Granma Prov., Manganese Mine,
Charco Redondo Mines District
IGP
Middle
Eocene
Striatolamia macrota
IGP
(L-509)
Middle
Eocene
Isurus sp.
Granma Prov., Charco Redondo Mines 1
district, Taratana Mine, Santa Rita,
Bayamo.
Granma Prov., Manganese Mine,
1
Charco Redondo Mines District
##
Eocene (?)
Aetobatus poeyi
(isolated tooth)
Cienfuegos Prov., lands of Ingenio
Constancia (today =Moncada) near
the city of Cienfuegos.
1
MNHNHP2228
Paleocene
Striatolamia sp.
(fragmentary tooth )
1
MNHNHP2229
Paleocene
Carcharodon landenensis.
(fragmentary tooth )
JMFM
Paleocene
Carcharodon landenensis.
(fragmentary teeth )
Pinar del Río Prov., Cordillera de
Guaniguanico, north of San Cayetano
(teeth with manganese stain).
Pinar del Río Prov., Cordillera de
Guaniguanico, north of San Cayetano
(teeth with manganese stain).
Pinar del Río Prov., Cordillera de
Guaniguanico, Alturas de Pizarras
(teeth with manganese stain).
MNHNH
-P2028,
2029,
20322033,
2035
MNHNH
-P2031,
2034,
2036,
20382041
Paleocene
Striatolamia sp.
(fragmentary teeth )
Pinar del Río Prov., Finca Montalvo,
Sierra de San Andrés (Pico Chico). 1
1/2 Legua from "La Palma"
(Manganese mine).
1
Paleocene
Unidentified fragmentary shark
teeth
Pinar del Río Prov., Finca Montalvo,
Sierra de San Andrés (Pico chico). 1
1/2 Legua from "La Palma"
(Manganese mine).
1
24
1
Collected by E. F.
Burchard. He also
reported Isurus hastalis
(or very near to this one)
and Lamna cf. L. elegans
Collected by Pallarés.
Identified by A. de la
Torre as I. desori
Identified by A. de la
Torre as Lamna cf. L.
elegans
Collected by Ernesto
Segeth. Identified by A.
de la Torre as I. hastalis
Collected and identified
by Fernández de Castro
(1873). The age must
ve verified in the future
Donated by Rafael
Quiñones
1
Donated by Rafael
Quiñones
1
Collected by Federico
Gómez de la Masa.
Collection of J. M.
Fernández Milera.
Collected by Miguel L.
Jaume.
Collected by
Jaume.
Miguel L.