Strigilodus

Strigilodus is an extinct genus of cartilaginous fish within the order Petalodontiformes. This genus existed during the Lower Carboniferous period, approximately 350 million years ago.

Strigilodus Temporal range: Lower Carboniferous
Speculative life restoration of S. tollesonae reconstructed after Janassa
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Chondrichthyes
Subclass:	Holocephali
Order:	†Petalodontiformes
Genus:	†Strigilodus Hodnett, Toomey, Olson, Tweet & Santucci, 2023
Species
Strigilodus tollesonae Hodnett, et al. 2023

The genus was identified in 2023 from fossilized teeth found in the Ste. Genevieve Formation rock layer at Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky, the United States.^[1] The distinctive teeth, arranged in a fan-like structure, featured a large tooth in the center and three smaller teeth alongside it. Each tooth had a rounded curved cusp for clipping and grasping hard shell prey, with ridges on the inner side for crushing.^[2][3]

Species

The genus contains 1 known species:

• Strigilodus tollesonae (Hodnett, Toomey, Olson, Tweet & Santucci, 2023)

See also

• Janassa
• Belantsea

References

1. "New Species of Ancient Shark Identified Through Fossil Research at Mammoth Cave National Park – Mammoth Cave National Park (U.S. National Park Service)". www.nps.gov. October 11, 2023. Retrieved 2023-10-17.
2. Hodnett, John-Paul M.; Toomey, Rickard; Olson, Rickard; Tweet, Justin S.; Santucci, Vincent L. (2023-07-06). "Janassid petalodonts (Chondrichthyes, Petalodontiformes, Janassidae) from the middle Mississippian (Viséan) Ste. Genevieve Formation, Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky, USA". Historical Biology: 1–10. doi:10.1080/08912963.2023.2231955. ISSN 0891-2963.
3. Lazaro, Enrico de (2023-10-16). "Paleontologists Discover New Species of Ancient Petal-Toothed Shark | Sci.News". Sci.News: Breaking Science News. Retrieved 2023-10-17.