Xampylodon


Xampylodon is an extinct genus of cow shark. Fossils assigned to this genus are known from the Late Cretaceous and early Paleocene. Xampylodon was erected in 2021 after a revision on the taxonomy of hexanchid fossil teeth, and includes four species, most of them previously included in Notidanodon.

Morphology

Xampylodon is known exclusively from isolated teeth. These teeth have a unique morphology. Xampylodon teeth are characterized by having an acrocone and cusplets bent distally, with a convex mesial cutting edge. The mesial cusplets are much smaller than the distal ones. The root is very deep, unlike the condition observed in Notidanodon. Xampylodon species differ from each other in aspects such as size, the number and shape of the mesial cusplets, the orientation of the acrocone, and the presence of a gap between cusplets.

Species