Biology:Edestidae

From HandWiki
Short description: Extinct family of sharks

Edestidae
Temporal range: 358.9–251.2 Ma
Early Carboniferous to Early Triassic
Artist's reconstruction of Edestus heinrichi
Scientific classification e
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Chondrichthyes
Subclass: Holocephali
Order: †Eugeneodontida
Clade: †Edestoidea
Family: †Edestidae
Jaekel, 1899
Genera

The Edestidae are a poorly known, extinct family of shark-like eugeneodontid holocephalid cartilaginous fish.

Similar to the related family Helicoprionidae, members of this family possessed a unique "tooth-whorl" on the symphysis of the lower jaw and pectoral fins supported by long radials. In addition to having a tooth-whorl on the lower jaw, at least one species of the genus Edestus had a second tooth-whorl in the upper jaw. The palatoquadrate was either fused to the skull or reduced. Edestids, along with the rest of the Eugeneodontida, are placed within the subclass Holocephali.[1] The family disappeared in the Early Triassic.[2]

Restoration of the skull of E. heinrichi

References

  1. ↑ Tapanila, L.; Pruitt, J.; Pradel, A.; Wilga, C.; Ramsay, J.; Schlader, R.; Didier, D. (2013). "Jaws for a spiral-tooth whorl: CT images reveal novel adaptation and phylogeny in fossil Helicoprion". Biology Letters 9 (2). doi:10.1098/rsbl.2013.0057. PMID 23445952. 
  2. ↑ Scheyer, Torsten M.; Romano, Carlo; Jenks, Jim; Bucher, Hugo (19 March 2014). "Early Triassic Marine Biotic Recovery: The Predators' Perspective". PLOS ONE 9 (3): e88987. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0088987. PMID 24647136. Bibcode: 2014PLoSO...988987S. 

Wikidata ☰ Q5337058 entry