| A detailed redescription of a chondrocranium from the basal Boom Clay Formation (Rupelian, Upper Oligocene) at the SVK clay pit, Sint-Niklaas (province of Oost-Vlaanderen, Belgium), previously assigned to the sawshark Pristiophorus rupeliensis, is presented. The chondrocranium is re-identified as that of an angel shark (Squatinidae), based on comparative anatomy of extant Squatina, inclusive of CT scans of Squatina africana, S. australis, S. dumeril, S. guggenheim and S. squatina, with different geographic distributions and representing all four angel shark clades as defined in a previous molecular study. Differential characters for chondrocrania listed in earlier accounts to discriminate angel shark species from the southwest Atlantic proved to be even... |
