Edestidae
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Edestidae Temporal range: Early Carboniferous to Early Triassic | |
|---|---|
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| Artist's reconstruction of Edestus heinrichi | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Chondrichthyes |
| Order: | †Eugeneodontiformes |
| Clade: | †Edestoidea |
| Family: | †Edestidae Jaekel, 1899 |
| Genera | |
The Edestidae are a poorly known, extinct family of shark-like eugeneodontid holocephalid cartilaginous fish.
Similar to the related family Helicoprionidae, members of this family possessed a unique "tooth-whorl" on the symphysis of the lower jaw and pectoral fins supported by long radials. In addition to having a tooth-whorl on the lower jaw, at least one species of the genus Edestus had a second tooth-whorl in the upper jaw. The palatoquadrate was either fused to the skull or reduced. Edestids, along with the rest of the Eugeneodontida, are placed within the subclass Holocephali.[1] The family disappeared in the Early Triassic.[2]
