Clad pool
| Clad pool | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Old reconstruction |
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| Temporal occurrence | ||||||||||||
| Upper Devonian | ||||||||||||
| 400 to 360 million years | ||||||||||||
| Locations | ||||||||||||
| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name of the order | ||||||||||||
| Cladoselachiformes | ||||||||||||
| Dean , 1909 | ||||||||||||
| Scientific name of the family | ||||||||||||
| Cladoselachidae | ||||||||||||
| Dean, 1909 | ||||||||||||
| Scientific name of the genus | ||||||||||||
| Clad pool | ||||||||||||
| Dean, 1894 |
Cladoselache was a genus of cartilaginous fish that lived in the Upper Devonian . Ohio slate fossilsare so well preserved that internal organs, parts of the skin, and scales of bony fish and shark teeth can be seen in the stomach. Several species have been described.
features
Cladoselache species were one to two meters long and had a typical streamlined shark shape, a squat head and five to eight gill slits. They had two dorsal fins, each supported by a spine, large pectoral fins and small pelvic fins. There was no anal fin, nor any clasps , so that one must assume external fertilization. The caudal fin was heterocerk , but in contrast to that of most sharks today, it was externally symmetrical (as in the herring and great white shark today ).
Cladoselache species had no ribs. The teeth had a large main point and two small secondary points to the right and left of it. Unlike modern sharks, they were not largely covered with placoid scales, but had only a few around the eyes and on the edges of the fins.
