Discovery of New Species of Hybodont Shark From Jurassics of Jaisalmer, Rajasthan

In a rare discovery, teeth of new species of hybodont shark of Jurassic age have been reported for the first time from Jaisalmer by Geological Survey of India (GSI), Western Region, Jaipur.
The newly discovered crushing teeth from Jaisalmer represent a new species named by the research team as Strophodusjaisalmerensis.
Hybodonts, an extinct group of sharks, was a dominant group of fishes in both marine and fluvial environments during the Triassic and early Jurassic time.
However, hybodont sharks started to decline in marine environments from the Middle Jurassic onwards until they formed a relatively minor component of open-marine shark assemblages.
Hybodonts finally became extinct at the end of the Cretaceous time 65 million years ago.

About Geological Survey of India

The Geological Survey of India (GSI) was set up in 1851 primarily to find coal deposits for the Railways.
Headquartered in Kolkata, GSI an attached office to the Ministry of Mines
Over the years, GSI has also attained the status of a geo-scientific organisation of international repute.
Its main functions relate to creating and updating of national geoscientific information and mineral resource assessment.
These objectives are achieved through ground surveys, air-borne and marine surveys, mineral prospecting and investigations, multi-disciplinary geoscientific, geo-technical, geo-environmental and natural hazards studies, glaciology, seismotectonic study, and carrying out fundamental research.