Biology:Mongolepidida

From HandWiki
Short description: Extinct order of sharks

Mongolepidida
Temporal range: Late Silurian-Early Devonian, 427.4–416 Ma
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Class:
Chondrichthyes
Subclass:
Order:
Mongolepidida

Karatajute-Talimaa et al., 1990
Genera
  • Elegestolepis Karatajute-Talimaa 1973
  • Mongolepis Karatajute-Talimaa et al., 1990
  • Polymerolepis Karatajute-Talimaa, 1968

The Mongolepidida is an order of primitive elasmobranchs that lived during the Late Silurian and Early Devonian periods of Russia and Mongolia, with possible fragmentary remains dating back to the Katian epoch of the Late Ordovician (c.450 Ma).[1] The three known genera are: Elegestolepis,[2] Mongolepis[3] and Polymerolepis.[4][1][5][6] They are only known from fragmentary placoid scales, so their appearance is unknown. The oldest of these scales have been dated back to the Ludlow epoch (427.4 Ma to 423 Ma), making the members of the Mongolepidida possibly the oldest sharks known to date.[7]

Although the placoid scales of the Mongolepidida are accepted to be those of sharks, subtle differences in the scales suggest that they may have been quite different in appearance to modern sharks. It is not known what they looked like due to the fragmentary nature of the known remains.[8]

References

Wikidata ☰ Q104848000 entry