Petalodontiformes ("thin-plate teeth") is an extinct order of marine cartilaginous fish related to modern day chimaera found in what is now the United States of America and Europe.[1]

Petalodontiformes
Temporal range: Lower CarboniferousPermian
Belantsea montana
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Chondrichthyes
Subclass: Holocephali
Order: Petalodontiformes
Zangerl, 1981
Families
Teeth of Petalodus ohioensis

Most species are known only from isolated teeth.[1][2] All fossils range from the Carboniferous to the Permian, where they are presumed to have died out during the Permian/Triassic extinction event.[1]

The two best known species are Belantsea montana, from the Carboniferous Bear Gulch, Montana, and Janassa bituminosa, from the upper Permian of Europe, as whole fossil specimens have been found of these two.

References

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  1. ^ a b c Lund, Richard, E. D. Grogan, and M. Fath. "On the relationships of the Petalodontiformes (Chondrichthyes)." Paleontological Journal 48.9 (2014): 1015-1029.
  2. ^ Dalla Vecchia, Fabio Marco, and Museo Paleontologico Cittadino. "A new petalodont tooth (Chondrichthyes, Petalodontiformes) from the Lower Permian of the Carnic Alps (Friuli, NE Italy)." Bollettino della Società Paleontologica Italiana 39 (2000): 225-228.