Scapanorhynchus

Scapanorhynchus
Temporal range: Albian-Miocene
Complete fossil of Scapanorhynchus lewisii from Sahel Alma, Lebanon
Scientific classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Chondrichthyes
Subclass: Elasmobranchii
Subdivision: Selachimorpha
Order: Lamniformes
Family: Mitsukurinidae
Genus: Scapanorhynchus
Woodward, 1889
Type species
Scapanorhynchus lewisii
Davis, 1887
Species
  • Scapanorhynchus lewisii (Davis, 1887)
  • Scapanorhynchus texanus (Romer, 1849)
  • Scapanorhynchus rapax (Quaas, 1902)
  • Scapanorhynchus raphiodon (Agassiz, 1843)
Scapanorhynchus texanus, Menuha Formation (Upper Cretaceous), southern Israel.
Near-complete fossil of S. lewisii, under special lighting

Scapanorhynchus (from Greek: σκάφιου scaphion, 'shovel' and Greek: ῥύγχος rhynchos 'snout') is an extinct genus of shark that lived from the early Cretaceous until possibly the Miocene if S. subulatus is a mitsukurinid and not a sand shark. Their extreme similarities to the living goblin shark, Mitsukurina owstoni, lead some experts to consider reclassifying it as Scapanorhynchus owstoni. However, most shark specialists regard the goblin shark to be distinct enough from its prehistoric relatives to merit placement in its own genus.

Scapanorhynchus had an elongated, albeit flattened snout and sharp awl-shaped teeth ideal for seizing fish, or tearing chunks of flesh from its prey. Scapanorhynchus normally did not exceed total length 4.15 metres (13.6 ft), although largest teeth with height about 6 centimetres (0.20 ft) indicates upper total length of 6.7 metres (22 ft).



This page was last updated at 2024-02-27 14:26 UTC. Update now. View original page.

All our content comes from Wikipedia and under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.


Top

If mathematical, chemical, physical and other formulas are not displayed correctly on this page, please useFirefox or Safari