Pirodus

Pirodus Temporal range: Carboniferous Moscovian PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Chondrichthyes
Order:	† Eugeneodontiformes
Family:	† Caseodontidae
Genus:	† Pirodus
Species:	†P. conicus
Binomial name
†Pirodus conicus Lebedev, 2001

Pirodus is an extinct genus of caseodontid eugeneodont from the Carboniferous of Russia. The genus includes a single species, P. conicus, which is known only from a single, incomplete fossil of its lower teeth. These teeth were fused together and sat along the midline of the jaw. ^[1]

Discovery

The holotype specimen of Pirodus was described by researcher Oleg Lebedev in a 2001 paper, and originated from the Shchurovo-Korobcheyevo Formation of Moscow Oblast, Russia. ^[1]

Description

Pirodus is known from a fragment of a tooth-whorl surrounded by dermal denticles. The tooth-whorl of this taxon consisted of a single fused base (or root) with multiple flattened, overlapping crowns protruding from it. ^[1] The denticles of the taxon are large and conical, and may have been fused to the teeth. ^[2]

References

1. Ginter, Michał; Hampe, Oliver; Duffin, Christopher J. (2010). Handbook of paleoichthyology: teeth. München: F. Pfeil. p. 119. ISBN   978-3-89937-116-1.
2. Lebedev, Oleg A.; Popov, Evgeny V.; Bagirov, Sergey V.; Bolshiyanov, Igor P.; Kadyrov, Rail I.; Statsenko, Evgeny O. (2021-11-15). "The earliest chimaeriform fish from the Carboniferous of Central Russia". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 19 (12): 821–846. doi:10.1080/14772019.2021.1977732. ISSN   1477-2019.