none 10.2110/palo.2012.p12-058r Society for Sedimentary Geology Society for Sedimentary Geology 860 62580803 46058 2026052800154179000 10.2110 2026-05-28T04:15:55Z 2013-06-05T23:17:30Z 12 Palaios 1938-5323 0883-1351 05 2013 05 01 2013 05 01 2013 28 5 ROMALA GOVENDER 1 Iziko Museums of South Africa, Natural History Department, Cape Town, 8001, South Africa, rgovender@iziko.org.za 2 University of Cape Town, Zoology Department, Rondebosch, Cape Town, 7701, South Africa, Anusuya.Chinsamy-Turan@uct.ac.za ANUSUYA CHINSAMY 2 University of Cape Town, Zoology Department, Rondebosch, Cape Town, 7701, South Africa, Anusuya.Chinsamy-Turan@uct.ac.za Abstract We document an aspect of the marine paleoecology at Langebaanweg, a site that has produced an abundance of vertebrate fossils. Damage to the bone surfaces of cetacean fossils was not pathological as evident on the fossil seals from this site; the current study documents the damage and attempts to provide a parsimonious explanation. Literature reviews identified similar damage described elsewhere to be the result of shark feeding activity. Comparison of this material with Langebaanweg cetacean bones supports the interpretation that the damage resulted from shark teeth. Damage on the various skeletal elements appears to have been inflicted postmortem or, if they were made while the animal was alive, the whales did not survive the attack. Postmortem damage is also supported by the presence of bites on the dorsal, ventral, lateral, and medial surfaces of a pair of dentaries. Bites were inflicted by sharks with serrated teeth, as well as by sharks with unserrated teeth. Potential predators identified from the marks include white (Carcharodon spp.), Zambezi (bull) (Carcharhinus leucas), tiger (Galeocerdo sp.) and mako (Isurus sp.) sharks. 05 2013 05 01 2013 05 01 2013 270 277 10.2110/palo.2012.p12-058r https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/palaios/article/28/5/270/146316/EARLY-PLIOCENE-5-MA-SHARK-CETACEAN-TROPHIC https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/sepm/palaios/article-pdf/28/5/270/2847166/i0883-1351-28-5-270.pdf https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/sepm/palaios/article-pdf/28/5/270/2847166/i0883-1351-28-5-270.pdf http://palaios.geoscienceworld.org/cgi/doi/10.2110/palo.2012.p12-058r Paläontologische Zeitschrift Aguilera 82 204 2008 10.1007/BF02988410 Giant-toothed white sharks and cetacean trophic interaction from the Pliocene Caribbean Paraguaná Formation African Journal of Marine Science Barendse 32 1 1 2010 10.2989/18142321003714203 Migration redefined Seasonality, movements and group composition of humpback whales Megaptera novaeangliae off the west coast of South Africa Paleobiology Behrensmeyer 4 2 150 1978 10.1017/S0094837300005820 Taphonomic and ecologic information from bone weathering Palaeontology Bianucci 53 457 2010 10.1111/j.1475-4983.2010.00945.x Killing in the Pliocene: Shark attack on a dolphin from Italy Tertiary Research Cigala-Fulgosi 12 17 1990 Predation (or possible scavenging) by a great white shark on an extinct species of bottlenosed dolphin from the Pliocene of Italy South African Journal of Marine Science Cliff 10 253 1991 10.2989/02577619109504636 Sharks caught in the protective gill nets off Natal, South Africa. 4. 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