A new dentalite, Piscidenticulus callapezi igen. et isp. nov., on a crocodylomorph coprolite from the Upper Cretaceous of west-central Portugal

Abstract

Recently discovered dentalites preserved on an Upper Cretaceous coprolite are described. The coprolite was likely produced by a crocodylomorph that lived in a shallow water, marginal environment along the West Iberian Margin. The specimen was collected from an uppermost middle Cenomanian carbonate-siliciclastic marine bed, at the base of the Tentúgal Formation (Tentúgal, west-central Portugal). The dentalites exhibit unique characteristics, including sets of straight, parallel, and equidistant grooves, with separations wider than the grooves, themselves. These features support the definition of the new ichnogenus and ichnospecies Piscidenticulus callapezi. The dentalites are interpreted as the result of repeated fish-biting behaviour on the surface of the coprolite, likely in an attempt to obtain food, providing significant data on the scarcely known palaeoethology of Cretaceous homodont marine fishes.