A New Late Miocene Chondrichthyan Assemblage from the Chagres Formation, Panama

Abstract

The late Miocene Chagres Formation from northern Panama contains the youngest outcrops of the Panama Canal Basin. Here we report two chondrichthyan assemblages that include 30 taxa from both the Rio Indio and Chagres Sandstone Members of the Chagres Formation. We report 18 new fossil records for Panama and four for tropical America, constituting the most diverse chondrichthyan association for the Cenozoic of Panama. We performed a paleobathymetry analysis based on the modern water depth preference of extant chondrichthyan taxa. The assemblage from the Rio Indio Member is characterized by taxa with neritic affinities, suggesting depths <100 m, whereas the assemblage from the Chagres Sandstone Member is dominated by taxa with oceanic affinities, suggesting 200-300 m water depths. The Chagres Sandstone Member could have accumulated at the edge of a platform–upper slope, bordered by a deep oceanic margin.