Delphyodontos
Name:
Delphyodontos
(womb tooth).
Phonetic: Del-fe-o-dont-os.
Named By: Richard Lund - 1980.
Classification: Chordata, Chondrichthyes,
Holocephali.
Species: D. dacriformes
(type).
Diet: Carnivore?
Size: Uncertain.
Known locations: USA, Montana - Heath
Formation.
Time period: Serpukhovian/Bashkirian of the
Carboniferous.
Fossil representation: Numerous individuals but
mostly of juveniles and aborted foetuses.
Delphyodontos is a genus of fish that lived in North America during the Carboniferous. Most of the specimens of Delphyodontos are either of new born juveniles or actual aborted foetuses. New born Delphyodontos roughly resemble tadpoles with teeth shaped into beaks, but what is interesting about this genus is that while the young were still inside the mothers body they seem to have practiced cannibalism and eaten one another. This may be an indicator that Delphyodontos was carnivorous in life, though precise details about the adult life of Delphyodontos are still lacking.
Further reading
- Viviparity and intrauterine feeding in a new Holocephalan fish from
the Lower Carboniferous of Montana. Science 209:697-699. -
Richard Lund - 1980.
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