First shark from the late Devonian (Frasnian) Gogo Formation, Western Australia sheds new light on the development of tessellated calcified cartilage

This work is a contribution to IGCP 596.Here we present new data from the first well-preserved chondrichthyan fossil from the early Late Devonian (ca. 380–384 Mya) Gogo Formation Lägerstatte of Western Australia. The specimen is the first Devonian shark body fossil to be acid-prepared, revealing the endoskeletal elements as three-dimensional undistorted units: Meckel’s cartilages, nasal, ceratohyal, basibranchial and possible epibranchial cartilages, plus left and right scapulocoracoids, as well as teeth and scales. This unique specimen is assigned to Gogoselachus lynnbeazleyae n. gen. n. sp.This work was supported by grants from the Australian Research Council DP 0772138 awarded to GCY and JAL for travel and scanning of specimens at the ANU; and DP1092870 awarded to KMT for travel to collaborate. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript