Ctenacanthidae

Ctenacanthiformes is an extinct order of cartilaginous fish. They possessed ornamented fin spines at the front of their dorsal fins and cladodont-type dentition, that is typically of a grasping morphology, though some taxa developed cutting and gouging tooth morphologies. Some ctenacanths are thought to have reached sizes comparable to the great white shark, with body lengths of up to 7 metres (23 ft) and weights of 1,500–2,500 kilograms (3,300–5,500 lb), while others reached lengths of only 30 centimetres (12 in). The earliest ctenacanths appeared during the Frasnian stage of the Late Devonian, with the group reaching their greatest diversity during the Early Carboniferous (Mississippian). Their biodiversity entered into a state of decline by the end of the Carboniferous, but were still prominent meso-predators and apex predators in several marine ecosystems well into the Middle Permian (Guadalupian). The youngest confirmed geologic records of the group date to the Early Triassic (Olenekian).

Ctenacanthidae

Gasmasque · CC BY-SA 4.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Sits inside
CtenacanthiformesPBDB
Diet
carnivorePBDB, for Ctenacanthiformes
Life habit
nektonicPBDB, for Ctenacanthiformes
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Ctenacanthiformes

Time the record covers

At least 182 million years on record.

The record covers at least 387.95 Mya to 205.7 Mya. No occurrence read is dated outside 410.62 Mya to 199.5 Mya.

Devonian — about 15 of 209 occurrencesDevonianCarboniferous — about 95 of 209 occurrencesCarboniferousPermian — about 93 of 209 occurrencesPermianEarly Triassic — about 0 of 209 occurrencesMiddle Triassic — about 0 of 209 occurrencesLate Triassic — about 6 of 209 occurrencesLate TriassicEarly Jurassic — about 0 of 209 occurrences415–408 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences408–400 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences400–393 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences393–386 Mya — about 2 occurrences386–378 Mya — about 1 occurrence378–371 Mya — about 3 occurrences371–364 Mya — about 5 occurrences364–356 Mya — about 4 occurrences356–349 Mya — about 7 occurrences349–342 Mya — about 4 occurrences342–334 Mya — about 12 occurrences334–327 Mya — about 4 occurrences327–320 Mya — about 4 occurrences320–312 Mya — about 16 occurrences312–305 Mya — about 37 occurrences305–298 Mya — about 11 occurrences298–290 Mya — about 8 occurrences290–283 Mya — about 6 occurrences283–276 Mya — about 8 occurrences276–268 Mya — about 18 occurrences268–261 Mya — about 37 occurrences261–254 Mya — about 11 occurrences254–247 Mya — about 4 occurrences239–232 Mya — about 2 occurrences232–225 Mya — about 1 occurrence210–203 Mya — about 2 occurrences203–195 Mya — about 1 occurrence387.95 Mya205.7 Mya415 Mya195 Mya

209 occurrences of Ctenacanthidae on record, most of them in the Carboniferous. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

209 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

65 formations

Khuff — 20.86°N, 57.60°EKhuff — 21.01°N, 57.67°EMinturn — 39.91°N, 106.73°WLinton — 39.72°N, 87.32°WLinton — 39.79°N, 87.38°WLinton — 39.46°N, 87.19°WLinton — 40.46°N, 86.96°WLinton — 40.94°N, 90.27°WPhosphoria — 43.35°N, 109.40°WPhosphoria — 42.75°N, 108.80°WPhosphoria — 43.19°N, 109.16°WPhosphoria — 42.67°N, 108.68°WGullane — 55.98°N, 3.21°WCarbondale — 39.28°N, 89.88°WCarbondale — 38.28°N, 87.17°WCarbondale — 41.18°N, 88.25°WGrenola — 38.95°N, 96.40°WGrenola — 39.00°N, 96.60°WCutoff — 31.82°N, 104.83°WCutoff — 31.98°N, 104.88°WCutoff — 31.94°N, 104.89°WHeath — 46.54°N, 110.43°WHeath — 46.67°N, 109.13°WHeath — 46.95°N, 108.96°WIchinotani — 36.22°N, 137.51°EZechstein — 51.23°N, 8.89°EZechstein — 51.49°N, 6.55°EKaibab — 35.10°N, 111.69°WKaibab — 35.19°N, 111.67°WStaunton — 39.85°N, 87.30°WStaunton — 39.96°N, 87.39°WForaker Limestone — 39.27°N, 96.44°WForaker Limestone — 39.38°N, 96.40°WForaker Limestone — 39.91°N, 95.91°WZewan — 34.00°N, 75.00°EZewan — 34.09°N, 74.98°EAkasaka — 35.40°N, 136.58°ETiki — 23.90°N, 81.35°ETiki — 23.91°N, 81.33°EBell Canyon — 31.94°N, 104.74°WBell Canyon — 31.98°N, 104.75°WBell Canyon — 31.98°N, 104.75°WRed Eagle Limestone — 39.39°N, 96.40°WRed Eagle Limestone — 39.19°N, 96.56°WPimenteira — 7.00°S, 42.00°WDiamond Peak — 39.54°N, 115.83°WDiamond Peak — 39.56°N, 115.83°WLueders — 33.75°N, 99.12°WLueders — 33.80°N, 98.83°WCleveland Shale — 41.48°N, 81.67°WNaco — 34.33°N, 111.12°W

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Ctenacanthidae has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 41 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 34 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Ctenacanthidae and its relatives

Carboniferous

Where Ctenacanthidae and its relatives were recorded in the Carboniferous.

Found in the same rock

719 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 164 sites for Ctenacanthidae, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

68 references

Each of the 209 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. 56 further references are not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content1

Picture of Ctenacanthidae

Credit
Gasmasque
Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

No 3D scan of Ctenacanthidae was found in Sketchfab.

Smithsonian Open Access and MorphoSource were not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itCtenacanthiformes through timeFormations of the CarboniferousThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Dean 1909