Sarcoprion
| Sarcoprion Temporal range: Wuchiapingian, 259–254 Ma
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| Reconstruction of Sarcoprion edax | |
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| Genus: | †Sarcoprion Nielsen, 1952
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| Species: | †S. edax
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| †Sarcoprion edax Nielsen, 1952
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Sarcoprion is an extinct genus of eugeneodontid holocephalans from the Permian of Greenland. Like other eugeneodonts in the Helicoprionidae family such as Agassizodus and Helicoprion,[1] Sarcoprion possessed tooth whorls on the symphysis of the jaw. Its only species is S. edax.[2]
Classification
Sarcoprion edax was first described in 1952, based on fossil remains found in Greenland in areas of land dating back to the end of the Permian.
Description
Sarcoprion had a thin, pointed snout with small tooth whorls. However, the tooth spiral had a significant size reduction and extent here compared to the other taxa. Sarcoprion had two pectoral fins and a triangular dorsal fin on its top. Abdominal and anal fins were not present. Behind the lower jaw were five slightly curved gill slits.
The tooth whorl on the lower jaw bore sharp, compact tooth crowns, while a row of backward facing, triangular teeth was present on the roof of the mouth.[2] The preserved material does not show evidence of a distinct upper jaw, implying it may have been fused to the cranium, reduced, or lost entirely.[2]
The most complete known specimen of Sarcoprion consists only of a partial cranium and lower jaws.[2]
Unlike the more famous genus Helicoprion, the spiral was not complete but instead arranged in a semicircle.
Behavior
Similar to today's mako sharks, Sarcoprion may have reacted smaller, fairly fast-swimming prey. At high speed it grabbed his prey and clamped it between his rostrum and his lower jaw. With the tooth whorl, the prey was then sliced in sensitive areas.
Related pages
References
- ↑ Schultze, Hans-Peter (1981). Chondrichthyes I: Paleozoic Elasmobranchii. Handbook of paleoichthyology / hrsg. von Hans-Peter Schultze. Begr. von Oskar Kuhn. Bearb. von S. E. Bendix-Almgren. Ort nicht ermittelbar: Verlag nicht ermittelbar. ISBN 978-3-437-30337-1.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Nielsen, Egil (30 August 1952). "On new or little known Edestidae from the Permian and Triassic of East Greenland". Meddelelser om Grønland (144): 5–55.