Late Jurassic Fishes form Torres Vedras, Portugal .

Abstract

Torres Vedras municipality, in the central-western section of Portugal, within the Lusitanian Basin, is well-known for its vertebrate fossil assemblage, especially for the case of dinosaurs. Fossil elasmobranchs and actinopterygians were poorly documented on its coastal outcrops so far. Here we describe new fossil shark and neopterygian specimens, collected on the surface of the marine deposits at the top of Praia Azul Member, Lourinhã Formation, dating between upper Kimmeridgian-lower Tithonian, and on the surface of the transitional deposits of Cambelas fossil site, Freixial Formation, dating between the middle-upper Tithonian, Upper Jurassic. Fossils are now housed in the Cl2Paleo of Sociedade de História Natural. Sharks are represented by 38 isolated teeth, whose dental characters agrees with those of Hybodus reticulatus, as per diagnostic evidences, especially its reticulated, spongy root, and well-developed enameloid ridges on both crown faces. The presence of this taxon in the Upper Jurassic Portuguese record is therefore confirmed. Neopterygian specimens are represented by a set of 29 isolated or partially articulated body scales attributed to cf. Ginglymodi, based on the presence of smooth ganoine covering the scales, and the rectangular-oblong to rhomboidal-like scale shape; and 38 isolated or partially articulated teeth referred to Pycnodontiformes indet., based on its more or less pillow­shape, smooth convexocclusal surface, and for being arranged in longitudinal rows, forming a more or less dense pavement. The results of this study certainly improve our understanding about the fish diversity of the Upper Jurassic of Portugal.