Squalidae

Squalidae, more commonly known as dogfish, dog sharks, or spiny dogfish, are one of several families of sharks categorized under Squaliformes, making it the second largest order of sharks, numbering 119 species across 7 families. Having earned their name after a group of fishermen reportedly observed the species chasing down smaller fish in dog-like packs, dogfish have slender, streamlined bodies, usually more compact in comparison to other species, and a pointed snout. Dogfish likewise have two dorsal fins, each with smooth spines, but no anal fin, and their skin is generally rough to the touch. As the species reaches adulthood, males usually measure a maximum of 100 cm, while females typically measure 125 cm long. The species therefore exhibits female-dominant sexual dimorphism.

Squalidae

Uncredited · Public Domain · via Wikidata/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
dogfish sharkPBDB
Sits inside
SqualiformesPBDB
Diet
carnivorePBDB, for Squaliformes
Life habit
nektonicPBDB, for Squaliformes
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Squaliformes

Time the record covers

At least 161 million years on record.

The record covers at least 161.5 Mya to 11.7 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 165.3 Mya to 0 Mya.

Middle Jurassic — about 2 of 460 occurrencesLate Jurassic — about 0 of 460 occurrencesEarly Cretaceous — about 49 of 460 occurrencesEarly CretaceousLate Cretaceous — about 130 of 460 occurrencesLate CretaceousPaleocene — about 46 of 460 occurrencesEocene — about 60 of 460 occurrencesEoceneOligocene — about 90 of 460 occurrencesMiocene — about 68 of 460 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 9 of 460 occurrencesPleistocene — about 5 of 460 occurrences169–163 Mya — about 1 occurrence163–157 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences129–124 Mya — about 1 occurrence124–118 Mya — about 2 occurrences118–112 Mya — about 1 occurrence112–107 Mya — about 11 occurrences107–101 Mya — about 30 occurrences101–96 Mya — about 21 occurrences96–90 Mya — about 8 occurrences90–84 Mya — about 8 occurrences84–79 Mya — about 23 occurrences79–73 Mya — about 23 occurrences73–67 Mya — about 39 occurrences67–62 Mya — about 29 occurrences62–56 Mya — about 27 occurrences56–51 Mya — about 13 occurrences51–45 Mya — about 11 occurrences45–39 Mya — about 20 occurrences39–34 Mya — about 20 occurrences34–28 Mya — about 71 occurrences28–22 Mya — about 18 occurrences22–17 Mya — about 16 occurrences17–11 Mya — about 35 occurrences11–5.6 Mya — about 15 occurrences5.6–0 Mya — about 16 occurrences161.5 Mya11.7 ka169 Mya0 Mya

460 occurrences of Squalidae on record, most of them in the Late Cretaceous. 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

460 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

135 formations

Boom Clay — 51.13°N, 4.26°EBoom Clay — 51.12°N, 4.35°EBoom Clay — 51.19°N, 4.32°EBoom Clay — 51.16°N, 4.13°EHunstanton — 54.15°N, 0.17°WHunstanton — 53.68°N, 0.50°WLa Meseta — 64.24°S, 56.60°WLa Meseta — 64.25°S, 56.67°WMesaverde — 44.08°N, 107.74°WMesaverde — 44.10°N, 107.75°WMesaverde — 44.17°N, 107.81°WNorthumberland — 49.55°N, 124.70°WNorthumberland — 49.54°N, 124.71°WSpeeton Clay — 54.15°N, 0.17°WFox Hills — 46.47°N, 99.58°WFox Hills — 46.38°N, 100.85°WSables de Bracheux — 49.58°N, 2.65°ESables de Bracheux — 49.53°N, 2.75°EDongen — 52.73°N, 6.30°EDongen — 53.16°N, 6.22°ELabguva — 54.88°N, 23.92°ELabguva — 55.09°N, 22.90°ETuffeau de St-Omer — 50.53°N, 3.15°ETuffeau de St-Omer — 50.44°N, 3.07°ELondon Clay — 51.40°N, 0.83°ELondon Clay — 51.51°N, 0.24°ELondon Clay — 51.38°N, 0.24°WLondon Clay — 50.78°N, 0.65°WBerchem — 51.20°N, 4.44°EGerhartsreit — 47.80°N, 12.62°EHornerstown — 40.10°N, 73.00°WHornerstown — 39.76°N, 75.13°WFerriby — 54.15°N, 0.17°WYamaga — 33.99°N, 130.82°EBreda — 51.97°N, 6.73°EBreda — 52.15°N, 6.61°EBreda — 51.47°N, 5.80°EJiesia — 55.08°N, 24.48°EJiesia — 55.06°N, 24.37°EHrušky — 48.81°N, 16.63°EOiching — 47.94°N, 13.01°EHannut — 50.71°N, 5.00°EHeers — 50.71°N, 4.99°EHeers — 50.10°N, 5.00°ENavidad — 33.91°S, 71.85°W

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The named rock units Squalidae has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 111 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 94 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Squalidae and its relatives

Late Cretaceous

Where Squalidae and its relatives were recorded in the Late Cretaceous.

Found in the same rock

3,027 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 399 sites for Squalidae, and this reads 240 of them. Of that, one read hit the database's own return limit, so every count below is a floor rather than a total. 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

163 references

Each of the 460 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. 151 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 Squalidae

Credit
nobody named on the record
Licence
Public Domain
Commercial use
the licence allows it

No 3D scan of Squalidae 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 itSqualiformes through timeFormations of the Late CretaceousThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Blainville 1816