Dracopristis

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Dracopristis
Temporal range: Serpukhovian–Kasimovian
An illustration of D. hoffmanorum
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Chondrichthyes
Subclass: Elasmobranchii
Order: †Ctenacanthiformes
Genus: †Dracopristis
Hodnett, 2021
Species:
†D. hoffmanorum
Binomial name
†Dracopristis hoffmanorum
Hodnett, 2021

Dracopristis is an extinct genus of ctenacanth (a group of shark-like elasmobranchs) that lived around 307 million years ago, during the Pennsylvanian sub-period of the Carboniferous period.[1] The fish had 12 rows of short, squat teeth, and an array of spines on its dorsal fins.[2] The main differentiation between ctenacanthiformes and true sharks is that ctenacanthiform mouths are larger but less flexible than the true sharks.[3] The spines of the holotype fossil are about 0.57 meters long, and the whole body was around 2 meters (6 ft) long.[4][1]

Discovery and description

A fin spine of Ctenacanthus formosus, which was very similar to that of D. hoffmanorum.

Fossils of D. hoffmanorum were first discovered in 2013, when a graduate student unearthed the fish's remains from late

placoderm Holdenius being found with the spine of a ctenacanthiform lodged in its head.[6] The fin spines of Dracopristis were very large, at about 57 centimeters long (about 27% of the total body length).[4]

Classification

Elasmobranchii
Phylogenetic position of D. hoffmanorum as reconstructed by Hodnett & Grogan 2021.
Neoselachians like the great white shark
are distantly related to the ctenacanthiformes

This fish was part of an order of Chondrichthyes known as the

Euselachii, meaning they were closely related to sharks.[4] However, because they were not part of the clade Selachimorpha, they were not true sharks.[7] In the holotype study conducted in 2021,[4] multiple cladistic studies were performed, and they found that this fish formed a sister taxa with Ctenacanthus, and Bandringa was recovered within the Euselachii alongside Tristychius, and Sphenacanthus.[4] They also suggested that ctenacanthiforms and xenacanthids are closer to the crown group euselachians than other chondricthyes like the Symmoriiformes.[4]

Paleoecology and paleobiology

When Dracopristis was alive

anoxic bottom, allowing fossils to be preserved without scavengers disturbing them.[1] Based on some of the fish specimens, some of them may have adapted to freshwater environments, and because of the environment, fish of both fresh and saltwater would have come into contact with one another.[1] In fact, this fish is only known from fossils found within the quarry.[1] It also lived alongside the larger ctenacanth, Glikmanius occidentalis, and may have been a potential prey to the larger fish.[1] The site has also preserved the remains of "two hybodontiforms, two holocephalans, three actinopterygians, and a megalichthyoform sarcopterygian",[1] as well as more than 31 distinct fish genera.[1][8] Other fish, such as the large eugeneodont Campyloprion might have been occasional marine visitors.[1]

References

  1. ^
    New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin
    . 84: 359–390.
  2. ^ "Dracopristis hoffmanorum: 'Godzilla' shark discovered in New Mexico gets formal name". Firstpost. April 17, 2021. Retrieved December 15, 2021.
  3. ^ a b c d e "New Mexico's 'Godzilla' Shark Fossil Gets an Official Name". smithsonianmag.com. Archived from the original on April 26, 2021.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Hodnett, J-.P. M; Grogan, E. D.; Lund, R.; Lucas, S. G.; Suazo, T.; Elliott, D. K.; Pruitt, J. (2021). "Ctenacanthiform sharks from the late Pennsylvanian (Missourian) Tinajas Member of the Atrasado Formation, Central New Mexico". New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin. 84: 391–424.
  5. ^ Zidek, J. (1992). "Late Pennsylvanian Chondrichthyes, Acanthodii, and deep−bodied Actinopterygii from the Kinney Quarry, Manzanita Mountains, New Mexico". shark references.
  6. ^ a b Brett, Carlton & Walker, Sally. (2002). Predators and Predation in Paleozoic Marine Environments. Paleontological Society Papers. 8. 10.1017/S1089332600001078.
  7. ISBN 978-0-691-20599-1
    .
  8. ^ "Dracopristis hoffmanorum". sharkreferences.com. Archived from the original on August 8, 2021.

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