Teeth ascribed to this genus have been reported from Late Cretaceous through Middle Eocene sediments of Europe, Africa and North America. These teeth are small and their overall design is reminiscent of those of the modern dasyatids. The root is often proportionately larger than extant species', otherwise it is very similar -- bilobate, lacking lateral foramina and/or notches and lingually directed. The labial crown face is ornamented & lingually inclined and the lingual face is smooth and more upright. A strong transverse crest separates the lingual and labial crown faces. The margins of the crown extend beyond the root and slightly overhang it. Unlike most extant dasyatids, there is a broad and deep depression of the labial crown face.

Cappetta (1987: 167) indicates that the genus displays sexual dimorphism similar to most recent stingrays - the female teeth tending to be lower-crowned and larger and those of the male, more cuspidate in anterior files. He included C. woutersi CAPPETTA 1982 from the Middle Eocene of Africa and Europe. The North American record includes:

  • Ward & Weist (1990) noted the presence of C. woutersi in Chesapeake sediments ranging from the Piscataway Mbr, Aquia Fm (Selandian) to Piney Pt Fm. (Lutetian).
  • Case (1994: 124) included this species in the Early Eocene of Mississippi.
  • Case & Cappetta (1997: 152, pl 12.7) erected C. turneri for Coupatezia from the Kemp Clay (Maastrichtian) of Texas.
  • Müller (1999: 62) reported Coupatezia sp from the Piney Pt Fm. (Lutetian, VA) and
  • Kent (1999: 42) included C. woutersi from the Nanjemoy Fm. (Ypresian, VA).

    Selected References

    Cappetta, H., 1987. Chondrichthyes II: Mesozoic and Cenozoic Elasmobranchii. Handbook of Paleoichthyology, 3B. Gustav Fischer Verlag, Stuttgart and New York, 193 pp.
    Case, G. 1994. Fossil Fish Remains fron the Late Paleocene Tuscahoma and Early Eocene Bashi Formations of Meridian, Lauderdale County, Mississippi. Palaeontographica Abteilung A, 230: 97-138.
    Case, G., and H. Cappetta. 1997. A new selachian fauna from the late Maastrichtian of Texas. Muünchener Geowissenschaften Abhandungen 34:131-189.
    Kent, B. 1999. Sharks from the Fisher/Sullivan Site. In: Weems, R. & Grimsley, G., Early Eocene Vertebrates and Plants from the Fisher/Sullivan Site (Nanjemoy Formation) Stafford County, Virginia. Virginia Division of Mineral Resources, Pub 152: 11-37.
    Müller, A. 1999. Ichthyofaunen aus dem atlantischen Tertiär der USA. Leipziger Geowissenschafteb, Leipzig, 9/10: 1-360.
    Ward, D. & Wiest, R., 1990. A checklist of Palaeocene and Eocene sharks and rays (Chondrichthyes) from the Pamunkey Group, Maryland and Virginia, USA. Tertiary Research, 12(2) p 81-88.

     

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