Galeus

Galeus is a genus of deepwater catshark, belonging to the family Pentanchidae, commonly known as sawtail catsharks in reference to a distinctive saw-toothed crest of enlarged dermal denticles, found along the upper edges of their caudal fins. They are found in the Atlantic, the western and central Pacific, and the Gulf of California, inhabiting deep waters at or close to the sea floor. Members of this genus are rather small, slim sharks with firm bodies and thick, rough skin. Their heads are usually fairly long and pointed, and have large mouths with well-developed furrows at the corners. They have large pectoral and anal fins, and two similar dorsal fins placed well back. Many species are ornately patterned with dark saddles and/or blotches. Sawtail catsharks feed on various invertebrates and fishes, and may be either egg-laying or live-bearing. These harmless sharks are sometimes caught as bycatch but are of minimal commercial value.

Galeus

Etrusko25 · Public Domain · 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
GaleinaePBDB
Diet
carnivorePBDB, for Carcharhiniformes
Life habit
nektonicPBDB, for Carcharhiniformes
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Carcharhiniformes

Time the record covers

At least 89 million years on record.

The record covers at least 89.8 Mya to 129 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 93.9 Mya to 11.7 ka.

Late Cretaceous — about 1 of 19 occurrencesLate CretaceousPaleocene — about 0 of 19 occurrencesEocene — about 4 of 19 occurrencesEoceneOligocene — about 0 of 19 occurrencesMiocene — about 6 of 19 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 1 of 19 occurrencesPleistocene — about 7 of 19 occurrences96–93 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences93–89 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences57–54 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences54–51 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences51–48 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences38–35 Mya — about 2 occurrences35–32 Mya — about 1.0 occurrences22–19 Mya — about 1 occurrence19–16 Mya — about 3 occurrences16–13 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences13–9.6 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences9.6–6.4 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences6.4–3.2 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences3.2–0 Mya — about 7 occurrences89.8 Mya129 ka96 Mya0 Mya

19 occurrences of Galeus on record, most of them in the Pleistocene. The Paleobiology Database records this as a living group. 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

19 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

7 formations

Laksarska Nova Ves — 48.59°N, 17.38°ELangental Beds — 27.40°S, 15.41°EBashi — 32.35°N, 88.68°WWeybourne Crag — 52.93°N, 1.15°ELeitha Limestone — 50.52°N, 20.53°ETimms Point Silt — 33.73°N, 118.28°WTeplice — 50.40°N, 13.94°E

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The named rock units Galeus has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 7 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Galeus and its relatives

Pleistocene

Where Galeus and its relatives were recorded in the Pleistocene.

Found in the same rock

289 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 15 sites for Galeus, 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

11 references

Each of the 19 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. 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 content2

Picture of Galeus

Credit
Etrusko25
Licence
Public Domain
Commercial use
the licence allows it

CT scan

Licence
not stated by the source
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record
Specimen
Galeus arae arae · UF:Fish:108272

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 itGaleinae through timeFormations of the PleistoceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Schaeffer 1760