Holocephali

Holocephali is a subclass of cartilaginous fish. The only living holocephalans are the three families of chimaeras, but the group also includes many extinct members and was more diverse during the Paleozoic and Mesozoic eras. The earliest known fossils of holocephalans date to the Middle Devonian, and the subclass likely reached its peak diversity during the following Carboniferous Period. Molecular clock studies suggest that holocephalans diverged from their closest relatives, elasmobranchs such as sharks and rays, during the Early Devonian or the Silurian Period.

Holocephali

Montanoceratops · 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
Also called
chimaeraPBDB
Sits inside
ChondrichthyesPBDB
Diet
carnivorePBDB
Life habit
nektobenthicPBDB
Motility
actively mobilePBDB

Time the record covers

At least 399 million years on record.

The record covers at least 399.5 Mya to 11.7 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 419.62 Mya to 0 Mya.

Silurian — about 0 of 998 occurrencesDevonian — about 10 of 998 occurrencesDevonianCarboniferous — about 378 of 998 occurrencesCarboniferousPermian — about 212 of 998 occurrencesPermianEarly Triassic — about 13 of 998 occurrencesMiddle Triassic — about 11 of 998 occurrencesLate Triassic — about 21 of 998 occurrencesLate TriassicEarly Jurassic — about 43 of 998 occurrencesMiddle Jurassic — about 12 of 998 occurrencesLate Jurassic — about 11 of 998 occurrencesEarly Cretaceous — about 22 of 998 occurrencesEarly CretaceousLate Cretaceous — about 152 of 998 occurrencesPaleocene — about 34 of 998 occurrencesEocene — about 40 of 998 occurrencesOligocene — about 8 of 998 occurrencesMiocene — about 17 of 998 occurrencesPliocene — about 9 of 998 occurrencesPleistocene — about 4 of 998 occurrences428–414 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences414–399 Mya — about 3 occurrences399–385 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences385–371 Mya — about 3 occurrences371–357 Mya — about 9 occurrences357–342 Mya — about 50 occurrences342–328 Mya — about 62 occurrences328–314 Mya — about 97 occurrences314–300 Mya — about 160 occurrences300–285 Mya — about 42 occurrences285–271 Mya — about 49 occurrences271–257 Mya — about 84 occurrences257–243 Mya — about 55 occurrences243–228 Mya — about 17 occurrences228–214 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences214–200 Mya — about 22 occurrences200–185 Mya — about 32 occurrences185–171 Mya — about 4 occurrences171–157 Mya — about 13 occurrences157–143 Mya — about 10 occurrences143–128 Mya — about 1 occurrence128–114 Mya — about 4 occurrences114–100 Mya — about 18 occurrences100–86 Mya — about 26 occurrences86–71 Mya — about 79 occurrences71–57 Mya — about 75 occurrences57–43 Mya — about 23 occurrences43–29 Mya — about 27 occurrences29–14 Mya — about 6 occurrences14–0 Mya — about 27 occurrences399.5 Mya11.7 ka428 Mya0 Mya

998 occurrences of Holocephali on record, most of them in the Carboniferous. 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

998 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

255 formations

Phosphoria — 42.97°N, 106.78°WPhosphoria — 39.60°N, 110.82°WPhosphoria — 47.06°N, 109.43°WPhosphoria — 44.00°N, 114.00°WPhosphoria — 43.35°N, 109.40°WPhosphoria — 42.75°N, 108.80°WPhosphoria — 43.19°N, 109.16°WPhosphoria — 43.38°N, 109.45°WPhosphoria — 43.01°N, 109.00°WPhosphoria — 42.32°N, 111.30°WPhosphoria — 42.32°N, 111.24°WPhosphoria — 43.04°N, 112.06°WPhosphoria — 42.67°N, 108.68°WPhosphoria — 42.30°N, 111.02°WPhosphoria — 42.89°N, 111.40°WPhosphoria — 42.80°N, 111.39°WPhosphoria — 42.53°N, 111.25°WPhosphoria — 42.67°N, 111.28°WPhosphoria — 43.54°N, 108.70°WHeath — 46.95°N, 108.96°WHeath — 46.95°N, 108.90°WHeath — 46.97°N, 109.04°WHornerstown — 39.76°N, 75.13°WHornerstown — 40.10°N, 73.00°WHornerstown — 40.12°N, 74.55°WHornerstown — 39.76°N, 75.16°WHornerstown — 39.97°N, 74.71°WHell Creek — 46.90°N, 101.50°WHell Creek — 46.41°N, 100.87°WHell Creek — 46.50°N, 100.61°WHell Creek — 46.51°N, 100.65°WHell Creek — 46.61°N, 100.64°WHell Creek — 46.59°N, 100.76°WHell Creek — 46.50°N, 100.39°WLa Meseta — 64.26°S, 56.68°WLa Meseta — 64.22°S, 56.64°WLa Meseta — 64.24°S, 56.66°WKupferschiefer — 51.53°N, 11.54°EKupferschiefer — 51.50°N, 11.57°EKupferschiefer — 51.69°N, 10.36°EKupferschiefer — 49.38°N, 11.03°EKupferschiefer — 50.98°N, 10.01°EKupferschiefer — 50.83°N, 10.35°EKupferschiefer — 51.55°N, 11.41°EFalang — 25.16°N, 104.79°ESte. Genevieve — 37.19°N, 86.10°WMasuk — 38.07°N, 110.93°WMasuk — 38.06°N, 110.97°WFox Hills — 46.42°N, 100.74°WFox Hills — 46.24°N, 100.53°WFox Hills — 46.11°N, 100.43°WFox Hills — 46.45°N, 99.55°WFox Hills — 45.78°N, 101.11°WFox Hills — 46.27°N, 100.51°WFox Hills — 45.21°N, 101.66°WFox Hills — 46.47°N, 99.58°WFox Hills — 46.39°N, 99.57°WSulphur Mountain — 54.53°N, 120.74°WZechstein — 51.23°N, 8.89°EZechstein — 51.49°N, 6.55°EZechstein — 54.25°N, 7.67°EZechstein — 51.46°N, 6.65°EZechstein — 51.53°N, 11.49°EKhuff — 20.86°N, 57.60°EKhuff — 21.01°N, 57.67°ERybushka — 51.24°N, 44.99°ERybushka — 51.35°N, 45.04°ERybushka — 51.23°N, 45.10°EIchinotani — 36.22°N, 137.51°EGrenola — 37.35°N, 96.80°WGrenola — 38.95°N, 96.40°WGrenola — 39.00°N, 96.60°WChhidru — 35.75°N, 72.75°EChhidru — 32.44°N, 72.20°EChhidru — 32.55°N, 71.78°EChhidru — 32.32°N, 71.18°EChhidru — 32.25°N, 71.14°ESelsey — 50.80°N, 1.21°WLinton — 39.72°N, 87.32°WLinton — 40.94°N, 90.27°WBlack Rock Sandstone — 37.99°S, 145.04°EBlack Rock Sandstone — 37.98°S, 145.05°ELueders — 33.75°N, 99.15°WLueders — 33.75°N, 99.12°WKössen — 46.64°N, 9.64°EKössen — 46.62°N, 9.68°EKössen — 46.60°N, 9.82°EKössen — 46.77°N, 9.68°EKössen — 46.75°N, 9.61°EKössen — 46.65°N, 10.14°ENaco — 34.33°N, 111.12°WStaunton — 39.85°N, 87.30°W

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The named rock units Holocephali has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 231 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 336 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Holocephali and its relatives

Carboniferous

Where Holocephali and its relatives were recorded in the Carboniferous.

Found in the same rock

2,709 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 637 sites for Holocephali, and this reads 240 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

352 references

Each of the 998 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. 340 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 Holocephali

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

No 3D scan of Holocephali was found in MorphoSource and Sketchfab.

Smithsonian Open Access was 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 itChondrichthyes through timeFormations of the CarboniferousThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. (Bonaparte 1832)