# @nationalparkservice on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/C3DW0UbOYgX
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/21020420-nationalparkservice-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/84bf25fafd.jpg
- **Posted:** 2024-02-07T16:09:15.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** National Park Service (@nationalparkservice) — https://gondola.cc/nationalparkservice

## Caption

Jaw ready for this? 🦈

I think we’re gonna need a bigger cave! Umm, Mammoth Cave is already the world's longest known cave system. So who’s up for finding a shark in the dark? Well, their fossils. 

Wait, come back! Two new species of shark have been discovered at Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky. The new species, Troglocladodus trimblei and Glikmanius careforum, were discovered through the ongoing Paleontological Resources Inventory at @mammothcavenps. Both were identified by fossils collected from Kentucky and northern Alabama. These shark species are estimated to have reached 10 to 12 feet (3 to 3.5 meters) in length and would have hunted the ancient near-shore habitats that covered what is now Kentucky and Alabama over 325 million years ago.

Image 1: A reconstruction of the new Middle to Late Mississippian ctenacanth sharks from Mammoth Cave and northern Alabama. Glikmanius careforum is seen swimming in the foreground with two Troglocladodus trimblei swimming above. Artwork by Benji Paynose. 

Image 2: This tooth found by Mammoth Cave superintendent Barclay Trimble in the cave ceiling during an early fossil expedition is the first specimen collected of the species Troglocladodus trimblei.  Photo by JP Hodnett.

Image 3: This set of fossilized jaws, teeth, and gills of Glikmanius careforum was discovered by Cave Research Foundation explorers during a mapping project and is the first fossil of its type for the genus.

#fossil #shark #sharkscience #mammothcave #kentucky #science #ancient

## Stats

- **Views:** 0
- **Likes:** 52,452
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- **Comments:** 187

## Credits

| Name | Username | Profile | Role |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| National Park Service | @nationalparkservice | https://gondola.cc/nationalparkservice | Government Organization |

## Tags

kentucky, science, sharkscience, ancient, mammothcave, fossil, shark

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