The first record of Lamniformes sharks from the Late Cretaceous in Abu Tartur area, Egypt

ABSTRACT The outcrops of the Duwi Formation (Late Campanian in age) in the Maghrabi-Liffiya sector of the Abu-Tartur Plateau have produced numerous chondrichthyan teeth. Forty-nine isolated teeth represent two different species: Scapanorhynchus rapax and Cretoxyrhina mantelli. The majority of the teeth were found within a yellow phosphate bed and with the rest contained within the black phosphate bed. The teeth were collected mainly through surface sampling. The Duwi Formation marks the onset of fully marine conditions in Egypt coinciding with the region’s major marine transgression during the Late Cretaceous. This paper reports the first description of Lamniformes from the southwestern desert of Egypt and records the youngest discovery of Cretoxyrhina mantelli in Africa and the Middle East and perhaps the youngest worldwide.