An early Permian xenacanthid fragment from Thuringia

During a palaeontological excavation in the Thuringian Forest near the town of Oberhof (Free State of Thuringia, Central Germany), a fragment of a xenacanthid shark skeleton was recovered. The new fossil finding belongs stratigraphically to the Lower Protriton-Horizon of the Lower Oberhof Formation (Lower Rotliegend, early Permian) in the Thuringian Forest Basin. This xenacanthid is preserved on a grey coloured, lacustrine siltstone that measures 7 cm in length and 13 cm in height; a smaller counterpart of the rock slab is preserved as well. The brown coloured remnants of the xenacanthid skeleton include hemal, neural, basal spinae, dorsal radialia, parts of the pelvic fin, and modified scales of the lateral line organ. Compared to literature, lateral lines appear to be rarely preserved in xenacanthid fossils.