A Late Cretaceous Chimaerid (Chondrichthyes, Holocephali) from Seymour Island, Antarctica

A chimaerid holocephalian, Chimaera zangerli sp. nov., is described from both palatine tooth plates, two tooth plate fragments, and part of the chondrocranium in a nodule from the Maastrichtian of Antarctica. Possibly the oldest known chimaerid, C. zangerli sp. nov. exhibits a tooth plate which is a morphological intermediate between that of the Jurassic Ganodus and the Oligocene C. rupeliensis . The presence of C. zangerli sp. nov. before the end of the Cretaceous is evidence of the early evolution of the Chimaeridae, considered the most derived of the chimaeroid fishes.