Ireland Uncovers 330-Million-Year-Old Shark Fossils in Burren and Donegal

2 articles · Updated · clarecoco.ie · May 11

330-million-year-old shark teeth in County Clare and a fin spine in Donegal mark the first fossil fish records of any kind from those locations, researchers said.
The Burren teeth were identified as Psephodus magnus, a shark with flat crushing dental plates for shellfish, while the Donegal spine belonged to Oracanthus milleri, an extinct spiny shark lineage.
Phoebe Larkin, Emma Glanville and local guide Cormac McGinley found the specimens, which researchers highlighted as a citizen-science discovery rather than a professional palaeontological excavation.
The finds have been recorded in an open-access preprint and feed ongoing Carboniferous fossil-fish research, with scientists saying each new specimen helps fill major gaps in the global record of ancient sharks.

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