Lebachacanthus

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Lebachacanthus
Temporal range: Early Permian
LebachacanthusDB18.jpg
An illustration of Lebachacanthus
Lebachacanthus senckenbergianus Shark Fossil.jpg
A Lebachacanthus senckenbergianus specimen housed in a collection from the Urzeitmeer-Museum
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Chondrichthyes
Subclass: Elasmobranchii
Order: Xenacanthida
Family: Diplodoselachidae
Genus: Lebachacanthus
Soler-Gijon, 1997
Species:
L. senckenbergianus
Binomial name
Lebachacanthus senckenbergianus
Soler-Gijon, 1997

Lebachacanthus is a genus of extinct xenacanth known from the late Carboniferous-Early Permian of Europe. [1] During the late Paleozoic, xenacanths were the apex predators of freshwater ecosystems, preying on small amphibians. [2]

Contents

Paleobiology

Lebachacanthus patrolled both fresh and marine waters, possibly preying on larvae of the temnospondyli and acanthodians. [2] The genus displays sexually dimorphic features; females had longer fin spines than males. Histological and biometric analyses of the spines of specimens provides information on the development and age at death of the fish and the environmental conditions in which they lived. [3]

Description

Like most other xenacanthids, this genus possessed an array of spines arising from the dorsal fins. [3] It grew up to 3 metres (9.8 ft). [3] The genus is often confused with the similar genus Orthacanthus ; the two genera belong to entirely separate families. [4] The teeth of this fish were multi-cusped, with the central cusp flanked by two sharp accessory "tines" on which its prey would be impaled and trapped, in preparation for being swallowed whole. [5] It had an abundance of pectoral fins, two next to the head, two in the middle, one near the end, and one under the caudal fin.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Acanthodii</span> Class of fishes (fossil)

Acanthodii or acanthodians is an extinct class of gnathostomes. They are currently considered to represent a paraphyletic grade of various fish lineages basal to extant Chondrichthyes, which includes living sharks, rays, and chimaeras. Acanthodians possess a mosaic of features shared with both osteichthyans and chondrichthyans. In general body shape, they were similar to modern sharks, but their epidermis was covered with tiny rhomboid platelets like the scales of holosteians.

<i>Cladoselache</i> Extinct genus of chondrichthyans

Cladoselache is an extinct genus of shark-like chondrichthyan from the Late Devonian (Famennian) of North America. It was similar in body shape to modern lamnid sharks, but was not closely related to lamnids or to any other modern (selachian) shark. As an early chondrichthyan, it had yet to evolve traits of modern sharks such as accelerated tooth replacement, a loose jaw suspension, enameloid teeth, and possibly claspers.

<i>Orthacanthus</i> Extinct genus of sharks

Orthacanthus is an extinct genus of fresh-water xenacanthiform elasmobranch, named by Louis Agassiz in 1836, ranging from the Upper Carboniferous into the Lower Permian. Orthacanthus had a nektobenthic life habitat, with a carnivorous diet. Multiple authors have also discovered evidence of cannibalism in the diet of Orthacanthus and of "filial cannibalism" where adult Orthacanthus preyed upon juvenile Orthacanthus. Synonyms of the genus Orthacanthus are Dittodus, Didymodus, and Diplodus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ganges shark</span> Species of shark

The Ganges shark is a critically endangered species of requiem shark found in the Ganges River and the Brahmaputra River of India and Bangladesh. It is often confused with the more common bull shark, which also inhabits the Ganges River and is sometimes incorrectly referred to as the Ganges shark. The genus is currently considered to contain three recent species; genetic evidence has shown that both the Borneo river shark and Irrawaddy river shark should be regarded as synonyms of the Ganges shark, expanding the range of the species to Pakistan, Myanmar, Borneo, and Java. While the other members of the genus Glyphis occur in coastal marine waters as well as rivers, the Ganges shark is found only in fresh water, making it the world's only exclusively freshwater shark. The species remains poorly known and very rare.

<i>Helicoprion</i> Genus of fossil fishes

Helicoprion is an extinct genus of shark-like eugeneodont fish. Almost all fossil specimens are of spirally arranged clusters of the individuals' teeth, called "tooth whorls", which in life were embedded in the lower jaw. As with most extinct cartilaginous fish, the skeleton is mostly unknown. Fossils of Helicoprion are known from a 20 million year timespan during the Permian period from the Artinskian stage of the Cisuralian to the Roadian stage of the Guadalupian. The closest living relatives of Helicoprion are the chimaeras, though their relationship is very distant. The unusual tooth arrangement is thought to have been an adaption for feeding on soft bodied prey, and may have functioned as a deshelling mechanism for hard bodied cephalopods such as nautiloids and ammonoids. In 2013, systematic revision of Helicoprion via morphometric analysis of the tooth whorls found only H. davisii, H. bessonowi and H. ergassaminon to be valid, with some of the larger tooth whorls being outliers.

<i>Xenacanthus</i> Extinct genus of sharks

Xenacanthus is a genus of prehistoric xenacanths. Fossils of various species have been found worldwide.

<i>Stethacanthus</i> Extinct genus of cartilaginous fishes

Stethacanthus is an extinct genus of shark-like holocephalians which lived from the Late Devonian to Late Carboniferous epoch, dying out around 298.9 million years ago. Fossils have been found in Australia, Asia, Europe and North America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Xenacanthida</span> Extinct order of sharks

Xenacanthida is a super-order of extinct shark-like chondrichthyans known from the Carboniferous to Triassic. They were native to freshwater, marginal marine and shallow marine habitats. Some xenacanths may have grown to lengths of 5 m (16 ft). Most xenacanths died out at the end of the Permian in the End-Permian Mass Extinction, with only a few forms surviving into the Triassic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Horn shark</span> Species of shark

The horn shark is a species of bullhead shark, in the family Heterodontidae. It is endemic to the coastal waters off the western coast of North America, from California to the Gulf of California. Young sharks are segregated spatially from the adults, with the former preferring deeper sandy flats and the latter preferring shallower rocky reefs or algal beds. A small species typically measuring 1 m (3.3 ft) in length, the horn shark can be recognized by a short, blunt head with ridges over its eyes, two high dorsal fins with large spines, and a brown or gray coloration with many small dark spots.

<i>Cobelodus</i> Extinct genus of cartilaginous fishes

Cobelodus is an extinct genus of holocephalid known from the late Carboniferous to the early Permian period. The type specimen, assigned to the genus Styptobasis, was discovered by Edward Drinker Cope in Illinois Basin black coal shales. Rainer Zangerl reassigned S. aculeata in 1973 to the genus Cobelodus, translating to 'needle tooth'. Cope's description was based from a tooth fragment and was compared to the genus Monocladodus. Cobelodus differs from Styptobasis and Monocladodus in the anatomy of its teeth and pectoral fins.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Zealand lanternshark</span> Species of shark

The New Zealand lanternshark is a shark of the family Etmopteridae mainly found off the coast of New Zealand. It can also be found in the Southern areas of Australia and Africa, inhabiting water depths between 500-1500m. These sharks can be commonly known as Baxter’s Dogfish and Giant Lantern shark. According to the New Zealand Threat Classification System (NZTCS), this species conservation status is considered non-threatened.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bignose shark</span> Species of shark

The bignose shark is a species of requiem shark, in the family Carcharhinidae. Distributed worldwide in tropical and subtropical waters, this migratory shark frequents deep waters around the edges of the continental shelf. It is typically found at depths of 90–430 m (300–1,410 ft), though at night it may move towards the surface or into shallower water. The bignose shark is plain-colored and grows to at least 2.7–2.8 m (8.9–9.2 ft) in length. It has a long, broad snout with prominent nasal skin flaps, and tall, triangular upper teeth. Its pectoral fins are long and almost straight, and there is a ridge on its back between the two dorsal fins.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Whitefin dogfish</span> Species of shark

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spined pygmy shark</span> Species of shark

The spined pygmy shark is a species of squaliform shark in the family Dalatiidae found widely in all oceans. Growing no larger than roughly 28 cm (11 in), it is one of the smallest sharks alive, with this record beaten by the dwarf lanternshark. This shark has a slender, cigar-shaped body with a sizable conical snout, a long but low second dorsal fin, and an almost symmetrical caudal fin. Its sister species S. aliae and it are the only sharks with a spine on the first dorsal fin and not the second. Spined pygmy sharks are dark brown to black, with numerous bioluminescent organs called photophores on their ventral surface. The shark is believed to use these photophores to match ambient light conditions, which break up its silhouette and help the shark to avoid being seen by predators below.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dwarf lanternshark</span> Species of shark

The dwarf lanternshark is a species of dogfish shark in the family Etmopteridae and is the smallest shark in the world, reaching a maximum known length of 20 cm (8 in). It is known to be present only on the upper continental slopes off Colombia and Venezuela, at a depth of 283–439 m (928–1,440 ft). This species can be identified by its small size at maturity, long flattened head, and pattern of black ventral markings and a mid-dorsal line. Like other members of its genus, it is capable of producing light from a distinctive array of photophores. Reproduction is aplacental viviparous, with females gestating two or three young at a time. The dwarf lanternshark is not significant to commercial fisheries, but could be threatened by mortality from bycatch; the degree of impact from human activities on its population is unknown.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brown lanternshark</span> Species of shark

The brown lanternshark or bristled lanternshark is a little-known species of deep-sea dogfish shark in the family Etmopteridae. It is found off Japan and New Zealand, and possibly also South Africa and Australia, typically deeper than 300 m (980 ft). This species can be distinguished from other lanternsharks by its coloration, which is a uniform dark gray or brown without the ventral surface being much darker and clearly delineated from the rest of the body. The brown lanternshark feeds on small bony fishes, cephalopods, and crustaceans. Reproduction is ovoviviparous, with females giving birth to 9–18 young. An unusually high proportion of individuals in Suruga Bay are hermaphrodites, with both male and female characteristics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hybodontiformes</span> Extinct order of chondrichthyans

Hybodontiformes, commonly called hybodonts, are an extinct group of shark-like chondrichthyans, which existed from the late Devonian to the Late Cretaceous. Hybodonts are distinguished from other chondrichthyans by their distinctive fin spines and cephalic spines present on the heads of males. An ecologically diverse group, they were abundant in marine and freshwater environments during the late Paleozoic and early Mesozoic, but were rare in open marine environments by the end of the Jurassic, having been largely replaced by modern sharks, though they were still common in freshwater and marginal marine habitats. They survived until the end of the Cretaceous, before going extinct.

Plicatodus is a prehistoric elasmobranch in the family Xenacanthidae that lived in Europe during the late Carboniferous and Early Permian Periods. It was described by Oliver Hampe in 1995, and the type species is Plicatodus jordani. The type locality for this genus is the Saar-Nahe basin.

<i>Barbclabornia</i>

Barbclabornia is an extinct genus of xenacanth from the Early Permian and possibly upper Pennsylvanian of North America. The genus contains a single described species: B. luedersensis. It has been found in several places within Asselian and Atinskian formations, including the Clear Fork, Albany, Wichita, and Dunkard Groups. There are possible examples from the Gzhelian-aged Admire, Monongahela, and Conemaugh groups.

<i>Dracopristis</i> Genus of extinct shark

Dracopristis is an extinct genus of ctenacanth that lived around 307 million years ago, during the Pennsylvanian sub-period of the Carboniferous period. The fish had 12 rows of short, squat teeth, and an array of spines on its dorsal fins. The main differentiation between ctenacanthiformes and true sharks is that ctenacanthiform mouths are larger but less flexible than the true sharks. The spines of the holotype fossil are about 0.57 meters long, and the whole body was around 2 meters (6 ft) long.

References

  1. Ivanov, Alexander (30 August 2005). "Early Permian chondrichthyans of the Middle and South Urals". Revista Brasileira de Paleontologia. 8 (2): 127–138. doi: 10.4072/rbp.2005.2.05 . ISSN   1519-7530.
  2. 1 2 Kriwet, J.; Witzmann, F.; Klug, S.; Heidtke, U. H. (2007). "First direct evidence of a vertebrate three-level trophic chain in the fossil record". Proceedings. Biological Sciences. 275 (1631): 181–186. doi:10.1098/rspb.2007.1170. PMC   2596183 . PMID   17971323.
  3. 1 2 3 Beck, Kimberly; Soler-Gijon, Rodrigo; Carlucci, Jesse; Willis, Raymond (2014). "Morphology and histology of dorsal spines of the xenacanthid shark Orthacanthus platypternus from the Lower Permian of Texas, USA: Palaeobiological and palaeoenvironmental implications" (PDF). Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. doi:10.4202/app.00126.2014. S2CID   53979047.
  4. Soler-Gijón, Rodrigo (December 2000). "Phylogenetic relationships of Lebachacanthidae [Soler-Gijón 1997] (Xenacanthiformes; Elasmobranchii)". PalZ. 74 (3): 363–377. doi:10.1007/BF02988107.
  5. Hotton, Nicholas (1952). "Jaws and Teeth of American Xenacanth Sharks". Journal of Paleontology. 26 (3): 489–500. JSTOR   1299956.

Further reading