Ctenacanthiformes | |
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Life restoration of Dracopristis | |
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Fin spine of Ctenacanthus formosus | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Chondrichthyes |
Subclass: | Elasmobranchii |
Order: | †Ctenacanthiformes Glikman, 1964 |
Subtaxa | |
See text | |
Synonyms | |
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Ctenacanthiformes is an extinct order of cartilaginous fish. They possessed ornamented fin spines at the front of their dorsal fins and cladodont-type dentition,[1] that is typically of a grasping morphology, though some taxa developed cutting and gouging tooth morphologies.[2] Some ctenacanths are thought to have reached sizes comparable to the great white shark, with body lengths of up to 7 metres (23 ft) and weights of 1,500–2,500 kilograms (3,300–5,500 lb).[3] The earliest ctenacanths appeared during the Frasnian stage of the Late Devonian (~383-372 million years ago), with the group reaching their greatest diversity during the Early Carboniferous (Mississippian), and continued to exist into at least the Middle Permian (Guadalupian).[4] Some authors have suggested members of the family Ctenacanthidae may have survived into the Cretaceous based on teeth found in deep water deposits of Valanginian age in France[5] and Austria,[6] however, other authors contend that the similarity of these teeth to Paleozoic ctenacanths is only superficial, and they likely belong to neoselachians instead.[7]
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