The Extinct Shark Genus Cretodus (Lamniformes: Pseudoscapanorhynchidae) from the Uppermost Part of the Upper Cretaceous Fairport Chalk in Kansas, USA, and Its Stratigraphic and Ecological Significance

Cretodus is an extinct lamniform shark genus that is known from the Albian–Santonian marine deposits nearly worldwide with three recognized categories: the longiplicatus/emiplicatus-grade, the gigantea/houghtonorum-grade, and the crassidens-grade Cretodus. FHSM VP-19857 is a Cretodus tooth housed in the Sternberg Museum of Natural History in Kansas, USA. It occurred from the upper part of the Fairport Chalk Member (mid-Middle Turonian) of the Carlile Shale in Hamilton County, Kansas. This specimen is significant because it represents the geologically latest occurrence of the longiplicatus/semiplicatus-grade Cretodus in Kansas and further supports the hypothesis that Cretodus (at least members of the longiplicatus/semiplicatus- and gigantea/houghtonorum-grades) preferred nearshore environments.