| Rhombodus Temporal range: [1] | |
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| Fossil tail spines of Rhombodus meridionalis from Khouribga (Morocco.) | |
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| Genus: | Rhombodus Dames 1881 [1] |
Rhombodus is a prehistoric genus of ray belonging to the family Rhombodontidae.
Species within this genus lived from the Cretaceous period, Maastrichtian age to the Paleocene epoch, from 70.6 to 55.8 million years ago. [1]
Species within this genus include: [1]
Rhombodus species could reach a length of 75–100 centimetres (30–39 in). [3] This genus is known from its caudal spines and rhombic teeth, which are all that usually fossilises. These rhombic teeth are bilobate, with vertical wrinkles and a width of about 1.5 centimetres (0.59 in). [4]
Fossils have been found in the sediments of Africa, Europe, Asia and the Americas. [1]
Squalicorax, commonly known as the crow shark, is a genus of extinct lamniform shark known to have lived during the Cretaceous period. The genus had a global distribution in the Late Cretaceous epoch. Multiple species within this genus are considered to be wastebasket taxon due to morphological similarities in the teeth.
Sclerorhynchus is an extinct genus of ganopristid sclerorhynchoid that lived during the Late Cretaceous. The genus Ganopristis is considered a junior synonym of Sclerorhynchus. It was a widespread genus, with fossils found in the Middle East, North Africa, Europe, and North America. While it had a long rostrum with large denticles similar to sawfishes and sawsharks, its closest living relatives are actually skates. Complete specimens of S. atavus show that its fin arrangement was similar to skates, with the pectoral and pelvic fins touching, both dorsal fins located behind the pelvic fins, and a reduced caudal fin.
Halisaurus is an extinct genus of marine reptile belonging to the mosasaur family. The holotype, consisting of an angular and a basicranium fragment discovered near Hornerstown, New Jersey, already revealed a relatively unique combination of features and prompted a new genus to be described. It was named by Othniel Charles Marsh in 1869 and means "ocean lizard". It was renamed by Marsh to Baptosaurus in 1870, since he believed the name to already be preoccupied by the fish Halosaurus. According to modern rules, a difference of a letter is enough and the substitute name is unneeded, making "Baptosaurus" a junior synonym.
Myliobatis is a genus of eagle rays in the family Myliobatidae.
Carcharias is a genus of mackerel sharks belonging to the family Odontaspididae. Once bearing many prehistoric species, all have gone extinct with the exception of the critically endangered sand tiger shark.
Igdabatis is a prehistoric genus of ray whose fossils are found in rocks dating from the Maastrichtian stage of Spain, the Dukamaje Formation of Niger and the Takli, Lameta, Fatehgarh and Intertrappean Beds Formations of India.
Schizorhiza is an extinct genus of schizorhizid sclerorhynchoid that lived during the Late Cretaceous. It contains one valid species, S. stromeri. It lived from the Santonian to Maastrichtian and its fossils have been found in Africa, the Middle East, North America, and South America.
Liodon is a dubious genus of mosasaur from the Late Cretaceous, known from fragmentary fossils discovered in St James' Pit, England and possibly also the Ouled Abdoun Basin of Morocco. Though dubious and of uncertain phylogenetic affinities, Liodon was historically a highly important taxon in mosasaur systematics, being one of the genera on which the family Mosasauridae was based.
Lonchidion is a genus of extinct hybodont shark in the family Lonchidiidae. The genus first appears in the fossil record during the Middle Triassic (Ladinian) and was among the last surviving hybodont genera, with its youngest known fossils dating to the very end of the Cretaceous (Maastrichtian).
Meristodonoides is an extinct genus of hybodont. The type species is M. rajkovichi, which was originally a species in the genus Hybodus. The species, along with other Hybodus species such as H. butleri and H. montanensis, was reassigned to Meristodonoides by Charlie J. Underwood and Stephen L. Cumbaa in 2010. The species is primarily known from remains from the Cretaceous of North America, spanning from the Aptian/Albian to Maastrichtian, making it one of the last surviving hybodont genera, though records of the genus likely extend back as far as the Late Jurassic, based on an undescribed skeleton from the Tithonian of England, and fragmentary teeth from the Kimmeridgian of Poland, England and Switzerland. Other remains of the genus are known from the Coniacian of England, and the Aptian-Albian of France. The morphology of the teeth suggests an adaptation to tearing prey. Fossils from the Western Interior Seaway suggest that it preferred nearshore marine environments, being absent from deeper-water areas, with it likely also being able to tolerate brackish and freshwater conditions.
Cretalamna is a genus of extinct otodontid shark that lived from the latest Early Cretaceous to Eocene epoch. It is considered by many to be the ancestor of the largest sharks to have ever lived, such as Otodus angustidens, Otodus chubutensis, and Otodus megalodon.
The Oulad Abdoun Basin is a phosphate sedimentary basin located in Morocco, near the city of Khouribga. It is the largest in Morocco, comprising 44% of Morocco's phosphate reserves, and at least 26.8 billion tons of phosphate. It is also known as an important site for vertebrate fossils, with deposits ranging from the Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian-Turonian) to the Eocene epoch (Ypresian), a period of about 25 million years.
Myledaphus is an extinct genus of guitarfish. It currently contains four valid species found in North America, South America, and Central Asia. It is confirmed to have lived during the Late Cretaceous, with possible occurrences in the Paleocene and early Eocene. While the genus is mostly known from teeth, two partial skeletons of M. bipartitus have been found in the Dinosaur Park Formation of Alberta.
Onchosaurus is an extinct genus of sclerorhynchid sawskate from the Late Cretaceous. Its fossils have been found in the Cretaceous sediments of Egypt, Brazil, Congo, Morocco, France, Niger, Japan, Chile, Peru and the United States.
Plicatoscyllium is an extinct genus of orectolobiform shark known from deposits of Late Cretaceous age in France, Jordan, the Netherlands, Syria and the United States. Remains tentatively referrable to the genus from Cenozoic deposits have been discovered in Saudi Arabia.
The Kristianstad Basin is a Cretaceous-age structural basin and geological formation in northeastern Skåne, the southernmost province of Sweden. The basin extends from Hanöbukten, a bay in the Baltic Sea, in the east to the town of Hässleholm in the west and ends with the two horsts Linderödsåsen and Nävlingeåsen in the south. The basin's northern boundary is more diffuse and there are several outlying portions of Cretaceous-age sediments. During the Cretaceous, the region was a shallow subtropical to temperate inland sea and archipelago.
Arechia is an extinct genus of stingaree from the Eocene epoch. It is the oldest known stingaree genus, though molecular data suggests they diverged from Butterfly rays about 75 million years ago or from Deepwater stingrays around the time of the K-Pg transition. The type species, A. arambourgi, is known from isolated teeth found in the Ypresian deposits of Ouled Abdoun, Morocco. It is named for Camille Arambourg, who originally ascribed these teeth to Raja praealba in 1952. Henri Cappetta revised the species in 1983, erecting this genus for those Arambourg called males in this genus and placed the ones he called females in Merabatis. The second species, A. crassicaudata is from the Ypresian-age Bolca Lagerstätte of Italy and is known from several articulated individuals. This species was described in 1818 and was placed in various genera until finally being attributed to this one in 2020. The inferred environment of the Monte Postale site where this species is found matches with the typical warm, shallow environment of extant representatives of this family.
Tomewingia is an extinct genus of rajiform ray from the Maastrichtian epoch of the Cretaceous period. It is known solely from isolated teeth from a single species, T. problematica. The genus is named for Thomas Ewing. The species was first described from the late Maastrichtian Kemp Clay Formation of Hunt County, Texas, but has since been found in Maastrichtian strata in the Arkadelphia Formation of Hot Spring County, Arkansas, the Severn Formation of Prince George's County, Maryland, and Fairpoint Member of the Fox Hills Formation in Meade County, South Dakota. This genus was originally named Ewingia; however, this name was found to be preoccupied by a mite found in the gills of certain land crabs. This rendered the name a junior homonym.
Gypsonictops is an extinct genus of leptictidan mammals of the family Gypsonictopidae, which was described in 1927 by George Gaylord Simpson. Species in this genus were small mammals and the first representatives of the order Leptictida, that appeared during the Upper Cretaceous.
Thalassotitan is an extinct genus of large mosasaurs that lived during the late Maastrichtian of the Cretaceous period in what is now Morocco, around 66 million years ago. The only known species is T. atrox, described in 2022 from fossils discovered in the Ouled Abdoun Basin, where many other mosasaurs have been found. It was assigned to the tribe Prognathodontini alongside other mosasaurs like Prognathodon and Gnathomortis. The prognathodontines are separated from other mosasaurs based on their massive jaws and robust teeth.
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