325 
[Paleontological Notes from Buchtel College, No. 4.] 
THE CLADODONT SHARKS OF THE CLEVELAND 
SHALE. 
By E. W. Claypole, Akron, O. 
Plates VII and VIII. 
The gigantic Placoderms from tlie shales of Ohio, now so famil- 
iar to paleontologists, were not the onl}^ fishes of its Upper Devon- 
ian seas. With them and sharing their empire we now know that 
there were abundant representatives of the family of sharks. Only 
during the last few years have the remains of the latter come to 
light. The earliest specimen was described and figured by Dr. New- 
bepry in his monogx'aph on the Paleozoic Fishes of North America 
under the name of Cladodus kepleri. It was found by Mr. Fyler 
in the Cleveland shale. Another and better specimen, found later 
by the Rev. W. Kepler, is noticed in the same place. Dr. N. also 
figures, but without description, what he considered a second spe- 
cies under the name of 0. fyleri. This was found by Dr. Clark. 
From those two specimens we obtained our first and hitherto 
almost our only knowledge of the form of structure of these early 
elasmobranchs. Till then nothing was known save by inference 
from their teeth and spines which were usually' dissociated. Being 
like all the other sharks largely cartilaginous in skeleton, they left 
no fossil bones or plates to immortalize their existence. 
These teeth and spines were named, and genera and species 
were founded upon them as a provisional and temporar}^ arrange- 
ment with the consciousness that in not a few cases they might 
only represent different parts of the same individual. 
These facts will suflflce to show the deep interest and immense 
importance attaching to the I'ecent discoveries in the black shale 
of Ohio. 
Unfortunately the fossils are not very distinct, being, as are 
most of the specimens from this rock, heavily laden with pyrites. 
The labor and care necessary for their safe extraction can only be 
realized by those who have had experience in similar work. 
The teeth found with one of the fossils figured by Dr. Newberry 
clearly pointed to Cladodus as the genus to which the fish or 
rather the teeth belonged. This genus was founded by Agassiz in 
