Tristychius
| Tristychius Temporal range: Early Carboniferous,
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| Restoration of Tristychius | |
Scientific classification 
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| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Chondrichthyes |
| Superorder: | Selachimorpha |
| Order: | †Hybodontiformes |
| Family: | † |
| Genus: | †Tristychius Agassiz, 1837[1] |
| Type species | |
| †Tristychius arcuatus Agassiz, 1837
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Tristychius (from Greek: τρεις treis, 'three' and Greek: στῐ́χος stíkhos 'row')[2] is an extinct genus of shark from the Carboniferous period (Visean). Fossils of T. arcuatus, the type and only species, including fin spines have been found in Scotland.
Tristychius was a small shark, about 60 centimetres (2 ft) long. It had a well-developed upturned caudal fin, similar to that of many modern sharks. Physically it may have resembled a modern dogfish. Tristychius also had spikes attached to the bases of its dorsal fins, probably for protection against predators.[3]
Life reconstruction of Tristychius arcuatus
References[]
- ^ L. Agassiz. 1837. Recherches Sur Les Poissons Fossiles. Tome III (livr. 8-9). Imprimérie de Petitpierre, Neuchatel viii-72 [M. Carrano/M. Carrano]
- ^ Roberts, George (1839). An etymological and explanatory dictionary of the terms and language of geology. London: Longman, Orme, Brown, Green, & Longmans. p. 174. Retrieved 1 January 2022.
- ^ Palmer, D., ed. (1999). The Marshall Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals. London: Marshall Editions. p. 27. ISBN 978-1-84028-152-1.
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Categories:
- Fossil taxa described in 1837
- Carboniferous sharks
- Carboniferous fish of Europe
- Taxa named by Louis Agassiz
- Prehistoric cartilaginous fish stubs