LOWER CRETACEOUS ANACORACIDAE - (LAMNIFORMES, NEOSELACHII) - VERTEBRAE AND ASSOCIATED DERMAL SCALES FROM AUSTRALIA

Partially disarticulated shark vertebrae from the Lower Cretaceous Too lebuc Formation in central Queensland arid the Bathurst Island Formati on in the Northern Territory provide probable evidence of the Anacorac idae in Australia, and are possibly referable to Pseudocorax. Associat ed with large shark vertebrae from Canary Station, near Boulia, Queens land, are numerous placoid scales of four primary types which indicate a large pelagic shark. The Canary specimen is one of the few Mesozoic sharks known where, scales have been found associated with vertebrae. Problems in referring the new shark material to the Anacoracidae and Pseudocorax are discussed. The significance of vertebral structure and scale morphology in Mesozoic shark evolution and ecology ia examined. 'Lamna daviesii' Etheridge 1888 is considered a nomen dubium as verte brae of this kind also occur in other genera in the Lamniformes, Orect olobiformes, and Carcharhinidae.