Dracopristis
Name:
Dracopristis
(Dragon shark).
Phonetic: Dray-ko-priss-tiss.
Named By: J-. P. M. Hodnett, E. D.
Grogan, R. Lund, S.G. Lucas, T. Suazo, D. K.
Elliott & J. Pruitt - 2021.
Classification: Chordata, Chondrichthyes,
Ctenacanthiformes.
Species: D. hoffmanorum
(type).
Diet: Piscivore/Carnivore.
Size: Holotype individual roughly about 2 meters
long.
Known locations: USA, New Mexico - Atrasado
Formation [Tinajas Member].
Time period: Pennsylvanian of the Carboniferous.
Fossil representation: Almost complete articulated
skeleton of a female.
Dracopristis
is a genus of ctenacanthiforme fish that lived in North America during
the Carboniferous period. The ctenacanthiforme fish are generally
considered to be like sharks but are also separate from ‘true
sharks’ the kind that we can see swimming around today.
Dracopristis like other ctenacanthiforme fish had
two large spines
rising from its back and supporting two dorsal fins. These spines may
have been for defence from other predators.
Also
like other ctenacanthiforme fish, Dracopristis
had a large mouth but
one not as movable as a modern shark. The teeth of Dracopristis
where
multicusped so that a hunting Dracopristis could
seize and hold on to
prey animals more easily.
Further reading
- 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. - J-. P. M. Hodnett, E. D. Grogan, R.
Lund, S.G. Lucas, T. Suazo, D. K. Elliott &
J. Pruitt - 2021.
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