Mammoth Cave contains many fossils of ancestral marine creatures.
Mammoth Cave National Park is famous for being the longest cave system in the world, with 686km of underground caves. It was recognized as a World Natural Heritage by UNESCO in 1981, a global tourist attraction.
It is also an area that preserves vestiges dating back millions of years, considered a witness of the past when this land was submerged under the waters of an ancient sea.
Since excavations began at Mammoth Cave, paleontologists have identified over 70 species of ancient fish.
Recently, they continued to discover another discovery that attracted the attention of the scientific community.
The extraordinary discoveries come from two prehistoric shark species called Troglocladodus trimblei and Glikmanius careforum, which date back 325 million years.
Troglocladodus trimblei was a giant animal of the ancient seas, reaching a maximum length of 3.6 meters. Its body possessed sharp teeth.
Meanwhile, the Glikmanius careforum species, with its strong jaws, helps them hunt small sharks and orthocones (ancestors of squid).
These findings challenge our understanding of shark evolution, suggesting that some species may have appeared much earlier than previously thought.
Two newly discovered prehistoric shark species date back up to 325 million years (Illustration: SP).
Fossils of these sharks have been found in formerly submerged areas, thousands of kilometers from the present-day coast.
This proves that, 325 million years ago, two US states, Kentucky and Alabama, bordered a prosperous sea, part of the sea route connecting North America, Europe and North Africa.
However, these waters disappeared with the formation of the supercontinent Pangaea, following the collision of tectonic plates.
This remarkable discovery highlights the importance of looking in sometimes unexpected places, revealing secrets buried for millions of years.
And Mammoth Cave continues to be an invaluable source of information about our planet's history.
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