Tribodus

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Tribodus
Temporal range: Albian–Cenomanian
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Chondrichthyes
Subclass: Elasmobranchii
Order: Hybodontiformes
Genus: Tribodus
Brito & Ferreira, 1989
Type species
Tribodus limae
Brito & Ferreira, 1989
Other species
  • Tribodus morlati Landemaine, 1991

Tribodus is an extinct genus of hybodont. It lived during the mid Cretaceous (Albian-Cenomanian) with fossils being known from northern South America, North Africa, and southern Europe. [1]

Contents

Description

This genus is known from articulated and somewhat complete specimens of Tribodus limae from the Romualdo Formation of northeastern Brazil, making it one of the few hybodonts to be known from full body remains. [2] [3] Like other hybodonts, Tribodus had dorsal fin-spines and cephalic spines in male individuals. [3] The skin of Tribodus had two distinct types of dermal denticles. [4] Tribodus limae reached a total length of about 1 metre (3.3 ft). [5] The lower jaw was relatively short and did not extend to the snout region and articulated with the upper jaw at exclusively at the hyoid arch unlike other hybodonts, with a number of cartilage struts connecting the upper and lower jaws which enhanced jaw strength. [3] The teeth of Tribodus were specialised for durophagy (consuming hard shelled organisms). They were small, less than 5 millimetres (316 in) across and polygonal with a low cusp, and collectively formed a flat pavement that was effective at grinding, similar to those of living myliobatoid rays. [1] [6] [3] It is suggested to have been a benthic feeder, with shrimp being discovered as stomach contents in some specimens. [3]

Species of Tribodus have been found in shallow marine as well as fluvial and deltaic environments. It may have spawned in shallow-water vegetated areas. [5]

Classification

Its placement within the Hybodontiformes is uncertain. Historically it has been asserted to be a member of the family Acrodontidae with other durophagous hybodonts, based on the presence of columnar osteodentine in its teeth. [3] However, other authors have suggested that it should instead be placed in the family Distobatidae due the morphology of its teeth closely resembling members of that family. [7]

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chondrichthyes</span> Class of jawed cartilaginous fishes

Chondrichthyes is a class of jawed fish that contains the cartilaginous fish or chondrichthyians, which all have skeletons primarily composed of cartilage. They can be contrasted with the Osteichthyes or bony fish, which have skeletons primarily composed of bone tissue. Chondrichthyes are aquatic vertebrates with paired fins, paired nares, placoid scales, conus arteriosus in the heart, and a lack of opecula and swim bladders. Within the infraphylum Gnathostomata, cartilaginous fishes are distinct from all other jawed vertebrates.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elasmobranchii</span> Subclass of fishes

Elasmobranchii is a subclass of Chondrichthyes or cartilaginous fish, including modern sharks, rays, skates, and sawfish. Members of this subclass are characterised by having five to seven pairs of gill clefts opening individually to the exterior, rigid dorsal fins and small placoid scales on the skin. The teeth are in several series; the upper jaw is not fused to the cranium, and the lower jaw is articulated with the upper. The details of this jaw anatomy vary between species, and help distinguish the different elasmobranch clades. The pelvic fins in males are modified to create claspers for the transfer of sperm. There is no swim bladder; instead, these fish maintain buoyancy with large livers rich in oil.

<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>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.

<i>Hybodus</i> Extinct genus of shark-like hybodont

Hybodus is an extinct genus of hybodont, a group of shark-like euselachians that lived from the Late Devonian to the end of the Cretaceous. Species closely related to the type species Hybodus reticulatus lived during the Early Jurassic epoch. Numerous species have been assigned to Hybodus spanning a large period of time, and it is currently considered a wastebasket taxon that is 'broadly polyphyletic' and requires reexamination.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ichthyodectiformes</span> Extinct order of ray-finned fishes

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

Ptychodus is a genus of extinct durophagous (shell-crushing) sharks from the Late Cretaceous. Fossils of Ptychodus teeth are found in many Late Cretaceous marine sediments worldwide. Numerous species have been described. The youngest remains date to around 85 million years ago. A large number of remains have been found in the former Western Interior Seaway. A 2016 publication found that Ptychodus are likely true sharks belonging to Selachimorpha, rather than hybodonts or batoids as previously thought. Their life history coincides with the typical life of many other large sharks: they lived relatively long lives and were slow growing and produced large offspring and small litters.

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Hybodontiformes, commonly called hybodonts, are an extinct group of shark-like cartilaginous fish (chondrichthyans) which existed from the late Devonian to the Late Cretaceous. Hybodonts share a close common ancestry with modern sharks and rays (Neoselachii) as part of the clade Euselachii. They 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.

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

Onchopristis is an extinct genus of sclerorhynchoid from the Cretaceous of North Africa, Europe, and North America. Its name is derived from the Ancient Greek ónkos and prístis. It contains two valid species, O. numida and O. dunklei, though some researchers argue that both may be considered a single taxon with variation in morphology caused by a wide geographical range. Specimens of Onchopristis have been discovered in coastal and fluvial deposits dated from the Barremian to the Cenomanian age, making this genus one of the oldest and longest-lived sclerorhynchoid genera.

<i>Lonchidion</i> Extinct genus of hybodont shark

Lonchidion is a genus of extinct hybodont 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, the Aptian-Albian of France, and the Campanian of European Russia. 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.

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References

  1. 1 2 R. Vullo, D. Néraudeau When the “primitive” shark Tribodus (Hybodontiformes) meets the “modern” ray Pseudohypolophus (Rajiformes), the unique co-occurrence of these two durophagous Cretaceous selachians in Charentes (SW France) Acta Geologica Polonica, 58 (2) (2008), pp. 249-255
  2. Maisey, J.G.; Denton, J.S.S. (2016). "Dermal denticle patterning in the Cretaceous hybodont shark Tribodus limae (Euselachii, Hybodontiformes), and its implications for the evolution of patterning in the chondrichthyan dermal skeleton". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 36 (5): e1179200-2. Bibcode:2016JVPal..36E9200M. doi: 10.1080/02724634.2016.1179200 .
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Lane, Jennifer A.; Maisey, John G. (2012). "The Visceral Skeleton and Jaw Suspension In the Durophagous Hybodontid Shark Tribodus limae from the Lower Cretaceous of Brazil". Journal of Paleontology. 86 (5): 886–905. Bibcode:2012JPal...86..886L. doi:10.1666/11-139.1. ISSN   0022-3360. S2CID   86285896.
  4. Maisey, John G.; Denton, John S. S. (2016-09-02). "Dermal denticle patterning in the Cretaceous hybodont shark Tribodus limae (Euselachii, Hybodontiformes), and its implications for the evolution of patterning in the chondrichthyan dermal skeleton". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 36 (5): e1179200. Bibcode:2016JVPal..36E9200M. doi: 10.1080/02724634.2016.1179200 . ISSN   0272-4634. S2CID   88591830.
  5. 1 2 Vullo, Romain; Néraudeau, Didier; Dépré, Eric (October 2013). "Vertebrate remains from the Cenomanian (Late Cretaceous) plant-bearing Lagerstätte of Puy-Puy (Charente-Maritime, France)". Cretaceous Research. 45: 314–320. Bibcode:2013CrRes..45..314V. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2013.06.002.
  6. Benyoucef, Madani; Pérez-García, Adán; Bendella, Mohamed; Ortega, Francisco; Vullo, Romain; Bouchemla, Imad; Ferré, Bruno (2022-07-06). "The "mid"-Cretaceous (Lower Cenomanian) Continental Vertebrates of Gara Samani, Algeria. Sedimentological Framework and Palaeodiversity". Frontiers in Earth Science. 10. Bibcode:2022FrEaS..10.7059B. doi: 10.3389/feart.2022.927059 . ISSN   2296-6463.
  7. Stumpf, Sebastian; López‐Romero, Faviel A.; Kindlimann, René; Lacombat, Frederic; Pohl, Burkhard; Kriwet, Jürgen (August 2021). Cavin, Lionel (ed.). "A unique hybodontiform skeleton provides novel insights into Mesozoic chondrichthyan life". Papers in Palaeontology. 7 (3): 1479–1505. doi: 10.1002/spp2.1350 . ISSN   2056-2799.