{"id":24812,"date":"2025-07-26T05:46:08","date_gmt":"2025-07-26T05:46:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/24812\/"},"modified":"2025-07-26T05:46:08","modified_gmt":"2025-07-26T05:46:08","slug":"new-ancient-shark-species-discovered-at-mammoth-cave-national-park","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/24812\/","title":{"rendered":"New ancient shark species discovered at Mammoth Cave National Park"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A rare bite into the past.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The fossilized tooth of a newly discovered ancient shark species \u2013 dating back about 340 million years \u2013 has been unearthed in the world\u2019s largest cave system, officials said.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MammothCaveNPS\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">roughly half-inch tooth<\/a> from the uncovered species, named the Macadens olsoni, was found in the depths of Ste. Genevieve Formation at Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nps.gov\/maca\/learn\/news\/mammoth-cave-national-park-discovers-another-new-species-of-ancient-shark.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">the National Park Service announced<\/a> Thursday, just four days after \u201cShark Week\u201d officially kicked off.<\/p>\n<p>The Ste. Genevieve Formation is estimated to be about 335 to 340 million years old. <\/p>\n<p><img style=\"aspect-ratio:1.29456384;display:block\" fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" data-modal-image=\"36648441\" width=\"764\" height=\"590\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/proposed-reconstruction-new-science-species-108736319.jpg\" alt=\"Illustration of *Macadens olsoni*, a newly discovered ancient shark species, with other ancient marine life.\" class=\"wp-image-36648441\"  \/>Illustration of the Macadens olsoni, a newly discovered ancient shark species. Art by Benji Paysnoe<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis discovery is a remarkable addition to our understanding of ancient marine life and underscores the importance of preserving and studying our natural history,\u201d Superintendent Barclay Trimble said.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis finding not only enhances our knowledge of ancient marine ecosystems but also emphasizes the critical role of paleontological research in our national parks.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Paleontology researchers, who discovered the <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2025\/03\/12\/us-news\/ancient-tiny-shark-species-discovered-at-mammoth-cave-national-park\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">marine fossil<\/a>, said the ancient predator is notable for its distinctive tooth whorl \u2014 a curved row of teeth that crushed small sea creatures.<\/p>\n<p>The shark likely measured just under a foot long and preyed on mollusks and worms when Mammoth Cave was a shallow sea rich with crinoids, corals and more, officials said.<\/p>\n<p><img style=\"aspect-ratio:1.49707602;display:block\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-modal-image=\"36648440\" width=\"883\" height=\"590\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/waterfall-back-country-mammoth-cave-108736427.jpg\" alt=\"Waterfall cascading from a sandstone overhang in Mammoth Cave National Park.\" class=\"wp-image-36648440\"  \/>Waterfall cascading from a sandstone overhang in Mammoth Cave National Park. jctabb \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEvery discovery connects the past with the present and offers invaluable educational opportunities for students and the public,\u201d Trimble added. <\/p>\n<p>Researchers named the species after Mammoth Cave and Rickard Olson, a retired park scientist.<\/p>\n<p>The latest discovery marks the fifth <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2024\/02\/03\/news\/shark-fossils-found-in-kentucky-and-alabama-lead-to-discovery-of-two-new-species\/?jw_start=%7Bseek_to_second_number%7D#!\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">\u201cnew to science\u201d<\/a> shark species identified in the cave system. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A rare bite into the past.\u00a0 The fossilized tooth of a newly discovered ancient shark species \u2013 dating&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":24813,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[49,48,8095,4505,13708,66,4778,886,323],"class_list":{"0":"post-24812","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-discovery","11":"tag-kentucky","12":"tag-national-parks","13":"tag-science","14":"tag-sharks","15":"tag-us-news","16":"tag-wildlife"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24812","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24812"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24812\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24813"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24812"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24812"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24812"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}