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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