This study reports on a rare assemblage of deep-marine elasmobranchs from the middle
Badenian (Langhian) of Austria, which has been recovered by extensive bulk sampling
of sediment deposited in the Krems embayment. The applied multidisciplinary approach
enabled an age assignment, placing the assemblage around the mid Badenian flooding
event (14.59 ± 0.2 Ma). Palaeoenvironmental reconstruction, based on a well-preserved
foraminifera assemblage and fish otoliths, indicates predominantly oxic to suboxic
with partially dysoxic conditions of a rather deep-marine (>100 m) setting, which
align with the recovered elasmobranch taxa. Despite analyzing 180 kilograms of sediment,
only five elasmobranch teeth were recovered. The low number of teeth and the extraordinarily
well-preserved foraminifera argue for an autochthonous deposition and point to high
sedimentation rates associated with the flooding event. The teeth represent five different
elasmobranch orders (Squaliformes, Squatiniformes, Carcharhiniformes, Torpediniformes,
and Myliobatiformes) with a wide range of feeding behaviors, providing new insights
into the ecological structure of this deep-marine environment. Despite common genera
known from other marine settings of the Paratethyan realm (e.g., Squatina, Scyliorhinus,
and Centrophorus), this study documents the first distinct records of Torpedo and
Mobula from Austria, expanding the known palaeogeographic distribution of these taxa.
