65-million-year-old fossil shark found in Alabama by McWane Science Center scientist

Imagine looking through a box of fossils, and suddenly finding 65-million-year-old shark teeth that existed in what is now Wilcox County, Alabama.

That’s what happened to Jun Ebersole, Director of Collections, McWane Science Center.

Thanks to his discovery, Ebersole and a team of scientists announced the discovery of a new fossil shark species from Alabama in the open access journal Fossil Record.

Joining Ebersole were:

• David Cicimurri, Curator of Natural History, South Carolina State Museum in Columbia
• T. Lynn Harrell,Jr., Paleontologist and Fossil Collections Curator at the Geological Survey of Alabama in Tuscaloosa 

Named after longtime McWane Science Center Volunteer

The shark is a new species of Palaeohypotodus (pronounced pale-ee-oh-hype-oh-toe-duss), which means “ancient small-eared tooth,” in reference to the small needle-like fangs present on the sides of the teeth. 

It has been named Palaeohypotodus bizzocoi, in honor of the late Dr. Bruce Bizzoco, a longtime volunteer at McWane Science Center, Bizzoco also served as a Dean at Shelton State Community College.

A small box of shark teeth at Geological Survey in Alabama

According to Ebersole, the discovery of this shark was an accident.

“A few years ago, I was looking through the historical fossil collections at the Geological Survey in Alabama and came across a small box of shark teeth that were collected over 100 years ago in Wilcox County,” Ebersole said. 

“Having documented hundreds of fossil fish species over the last decade, I found it puzzling that these teeth were from a shark that I didn’t recognize.” 

Ebersole quickly realized that these teeth belonged to a new species. 

The scientists went to work to figure out the age of the shark fossil. In the paper published today they believe it is approximately 65 million years old during a period after the dinosaurs went extinct.

In an interview with Bham Now, Ebersole said it was not surprising to discover a new ancient shark species from Alabama, albeit in a 100 year-old box.

“Alabama has spent most of its geological history underwater. The world’s history of coral reefs goes back 500 million years and that’s what’s laying on the surface in Alabama. Because of our geology and because Alabama spent so much time underwater, we are very quickly becoming a global hotspot for fossil fishes, which includes sharks and rays and bony fishes.”

Jun Ebersole, Director of Collections, McWane Science Center

400+ ancient fishes 

For years, naming and documenting new ancient Alabama fossil fishes have been an ongoing project of Ebersole and David Cicimurri, Curator of Natural History, South Carolina State Museum in Columbia.  Together, they have confirmed over 400 unique species of fossil sharks and bony fishes, which makes Alabama one of the richest places in the world in terms of fossil fish diversity.

To learn more about paleontology in Alabama and the scientific research happening at McWane Science Center, visit www.mcwane.org