Angelacanthus
Extinct genus of Devonian spiny sharks
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Angelacanthus acus (synonym Diplacanthus acus)[1] is a species of Devonian acanthodian from the Waterloo Farm lagerstätte in South Africa. It is the only species in the genus Angelacanthus.
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| Angelacanthus Temporal range: | |
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| Fossil of Angelacanthus | |
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| Life restoration | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Chondrichthyes |
| Subclass: | †Acanthodii |
| Order: | †Diplacanthiformes |
| Family: | †Diplacanthidae |
| Genus: | †Angelacanthus Gess and Burrow, 2025 |
| Species: | †A. acus |
| Binomial name | |
| †Angelacanthus acus (Gess, 2001) | |
| Synonyms | |
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Description
Angelacanthus was described from a near complete whole-bodied impression discovered in 1999 during roadworks cutting the Waterloo Farm lagerstätte.[2] The type specimen of Angelacanthus is approximately 100 mm long and has exceptionally long and thin ribbed spines. The intermediate spines are, conversely, extremely reduced.[3] Unusually it preserves complete outlines of many of the fins.
