The National Park Service announced Thursday that two new species of sharks that have lived more than 325 million years have recently been discovered.
The discovery was made through the Paleontological Resource Inventory at Mammoth Cave National Park in southern Kentucky.
PRI researchers used fossils collected at Mammoth Cave and northern Alabama to identify the shark species Troglocladodus trimblei and Glikmanius Careforum.
Troglocladodus trimble is believed to have grown to be about 10 to 12 feet long, or about the same size as an oceanic whale shark, according to the NPS. Adult and juvenile teeth were used for identification.
According to the NPS, Grikmanius keaforum is believed to have been about the same size, measuring 10 to 12 feet long. This individual was identified using teeth found at Mammoth Cave and Alabama, as well as a portion of its jaw and gills found at Mammoth Cave.
Finding shark fossils in areas that are now landlocked may seem puzzling. But the NPS said Kentucky and Alabama were once covered by water and were part of an ancient seaway more than 325 million years ago.
This sea route connected what is now eastern North America, Europe, and northern Africa. This seaway eventually disappeared when all the continents merged to form the supercontinent Pangea, the NPS noted.
Because of this marine past, Troglocladodus trimbley and Glycmanius caerforme are not the only ancient shark species identified in the area.
In October, Mammoth Cave National Park officials announced the discovery of Strigilodus tollesonae, an extinct shark species more closely related to modern ratfish than to modern sharks or rays.
