Cappetta (1987) attributes the genus to the Lower Cretaceous through Eocene, and extends the possible chrono-range to the Late Oligocene, if A. cravenensis CASE 1980 is deemed valid. The genus is virtually circumglobal, with specimens found in Europe, North Africa, Japan and North America. Some of these taxa include:

  • A. plicatus ARAMBOURG 1952d [Upper Cretaceous: Santonian-Maastrichtian],
  • A. cravenensis CASE 1980 [Trent Marl, Late Oligocene - North Carolina],
  • A. novus (WINKLER 1874b) [Middle Eocene - Europe & North America],
  • A. principalis CAPPETTA 1975 [Lwr Cretaceous - France and Japan],
  • A. sheppeyensis (CASIER, 1966) [Lower Eocene - England].
    Cappetta noted Palaeocene occurrences of the genus in Western Africa. Ward & Wiest (1990) noted A. novus as represented in Aquia (Palaeocene) and Nanjemoy (Eocene) sediments. Case (1994) notes Anomotodon teeth, of a possible new species, from the Late Palaeocene - Early Eocene of Mississippi. The overall design of these teeth is much more robust than those of A. novus.

    Cretaceous

    Case & Cappetta 1997 erected Anomotodon toddi for smooth-crowned teeth from the Late Maastrichtian of Texas. They deemed these teeth to be distinguished from other members of the genus by the smooth (unfolded, non striated) lingual crown surface. They went on to note that Welton & Farish (1993: 114, figs. 2-5) included this tooth-design as Paranomotodon. A similar Maastrichtian tooth was previously included on this website as A. plicatus (Fig. ).

    Paleogene

    When found in Mid-Atlantic exposures, the feature of these teeth, that most stands out, is its (usually) smooth, narrow cusp and the absence of lateral cusplets. Trying to make positional sense of variations of this simple design, the expertise of Steve Cunningham was employed. He tendered opinions as reflected in Figure .

    In addition to A. novus, the Potapaco Bed B sediments of the Nanjemoy yield a second Anomotodon tooth-design, first recognized as such by Cunningham and Ward (pers. com. 1999). These teeth compare very well with those ascribed to A. sheppeyensis. Kent (1999) reported A. novus only from this fauna.

     

    Case 1980 erected Anomotodon cravenensis for specimens recovered from the Trent Marl in North Carolina. These sediments were originally thought to be Miocene in age but have been subsequently moved to the Oligocene. A single example is known to the author recovered from Lee Creek tailings -- likely upper Pungo River. Because of its apparent rarity, this specimen may have been reworked into these Miocene sediments. Purdy et al (2001) made no reference to this taxon when describing this fauna.

    Selected References

    Arambourg, C., 1952d. Les vertébrés fossiles des gisements de phosphates (Maroc-Algérie-Tunisie). Service Géologique Maroc, Notes et Mémoires, 92: 1-372.
    Cappetta, H., 1975. Sélaciens et Holocéphale du Gargasien de la région de Gargas (Vaucluse). Géol. Médit., 2, (3), p 115-134.
    Cappetta, H., 1987. Chondrichthyes II: Mesozoic and Cenozoic Elasmobranchii. Handbook of Paleoichthyology, 3B. Gustav Fischer Verlag, Stuttgart and New York, 193 pp.
    Case, G. 1980. A Selachian Fauna from the Trent Formation, Lower Miocene of Eastern North Carolina Palaeontographica, 171:75-103.
    Case, G. 1994. Fossil Fish Remains fron the Late Paleocene Tuscahoma and Early Eocene Bashi Formations of Meridian, Lauderdale County, Mississippi. Palaeontographica Abteilung A, 230: 97-138.
    Case, G. and Cappetta, H. 1997. A new selachian fauna from the Late Maastrichtian of Texas. Münchner Geowissenschaftliche Abhandlungen 34:131-189.
    Casier, E., 1966. Faune ichthyologique du London Clay. Appendice: Otoliths des poissons du London Clay par Frederick Charles Stinton. Brit. Mus, London. 496 pp.
    Kent, B. 1999. Sharks from the Fisher/Sullivan Site. In: Weems, R. & Grimsley, G., Early Eocene Vertebrates and Plants from the Fisher/Sullivan Site (Nanjemoy Formation) Stafford County, Virginia. Virginia Division of Mineral Resources, Pub 152: 11-37.
    Purdy, R., Schneider, V., Appelgate, S., McLellan, J., Meyer, R. & Slaughter, R., 2001. The Neogene Sharks, Rays, and Bony Fishes from Lee Creek Mine, Aurora, North Carolina. In: Geology and Paleontology of the Lee Creek Mine, North Carolina, III. C. E. Ray & D. J. Bohaska eds. Smithsonian Contributions to Paleobiology, No 90. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington D.C. pp. 71-202.
    Ward, D.J. & Wiest, R.L., 1990. A checklist of Palaeocene and Eocene sharks and rays (Chondrichthyes) from the Pamunkey Group, Maryland and Virginia, USA. Tertiary Research, 12(2) p 81-88.
    Welton, B. and Farish, R., 1993. The Collector's Guide to Fossil Sharks and Rays from the Cretaceous of Texas. Before Time, Texas. 204 pp.
    Winkler, T.C., 1874b. Deuxième mémoire sur des dents de poissons fossiles du terrain bruxellien. In: Archives du Musée Teyler, 1878; vol. IV (fasc. 1, 1876), pp 16-48; Extrait, 10 pages. Les Héritiers Loosjes, Haarlem, Belgium.