Janassa
Extinct genus of cartilaginous fishes
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Janassa is an extinct genus of petalodont cartilaginous fish that lived in marine environments in what is now central United States of America and Europe during the Carboniferous and upper Permian.[1]
| Janassa Temporal range: Lower Carboniferous to Lopingian | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Life restoration of Janassa bituminosa | |
 | |
| Fossil displayed at the National Museum of Nature and Science | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Chondrichthyes |
| Subclass: | Holocephali |
| Order: | †Petalodontiformes |
| Family: | †Janassidae |
| Genus: | †Janassa Schlotheim, 1820 |
| Species | |
| |
It is known from teeth and a few poorly preserved body fossils from Germany (Kupferschiefer, Upper Permian) and England (Marl Slate, Upper Permian).
Janassa had a body plan very similar to that of the modern skate. Its teeth suggest it crushed and ate shellfish, such as brachiopods.
