Archaeolamna
Extinct genus of sharks
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Archaeolamna (from Greek arche which turned into archaeo and Lamna, an extinct shark genus)[2] is an extinct genus of mackerel sharks that lived during the Cretaceous. It contains three valid species (one with two subspecies) which have been found in Europe, North America, and Australia.[7][8] While it is mostly known from isolated teeth, an associated set of teeth, jaws, cranial fragments, and vertebrae of A. kopingensis is known from the Pierre Shale of Kansas.[7] Teeth of A. k. judithensis were found with a plesiosaur skeleton with bite marks from the Judith River Formation of Montana.[2] It was a medium-sized shark with an estimated total body length of 3–4 metres (9.8–13.1 ft).[9]
| Archaeolamna Temporal range: | |
|---|---|
| |
| Tooth of Archaeolamna sp. | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Chondrichthyes |
| Subclass: | Elasmobranchii |
| Division: | Selachii |
| Order: | Lamniformes |
| Family: | †Archaeolamnidae Underwood & Cumbaa, 2010[1] |
| Genus: | †Archaeolamna Siverson, 1992[2] |
| Type species | |
| †Archaeolamna kopingensis | |
| Other species and subspecies | |
| Synonyms | |
|
Species synonymy
| |
Archaeolamna likely had an antitropical distribution, being found in the temperate waters of both hemispheres but absent from the tropical waters around the equator, much like the modern porbeagle shark. A similar distribution has been found for the related Cardabiodon.[7]
Taxonomy
When the family Archaeolamnidae was first named, it contained Archaeolamna, Cretodus, Dallasiella, and Telodontaspis.[1] However, Cretodus was reassigned to Pseudoscapanorhynchidae,[10] Dallasiella was reassigned to Lamniformes incertae sedis,[11] and Telodontaspis was synonymized with Cretoxyrhina.[12] This leaves Archaeolamna as the sole member of the family.