Syntomodus
| Syntomodus Temporal range: Permian
| |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Chondrichthyes |
| Order: | †Eugeneodontiformes |
| Family: | †Edestidae |
| Genus: | †Syntomodus |
| Species: | †S. abbreviatus
|
| Binomial name | |
| †Syntomodus abbreviatus Obruchev, 1964
| |
| Synonyms | |
|
Syntomotus abbreviatus Ginter et al. 2010 | |
Syntomodus is an extinct genus of eugeneodont from the Late Permian of Russia. The genus includes a single species, S. abbreviatus, which is known only from a single, poorly preserved set of four teeth. The species may belong to the family Edestidae.[1][2]
Discovery
[edit]The holotype specimen of Syntomodus was discovered in a Lopingian-stage deposit in the Yana River Basin of Sakha Republic, Russia. The taxon was named and described by researcher Dmitry Vladimirovich Obruchev.[1][3] The holotype (and only specimen) is part of the collection of the Palaeontological Institute in Moscow.[4]
Description
[edit]The only known specimen of Syntomodus is incomplete and has been described as poorly preserved.[1] The teeth are triangular and blade-like, and because of their state of preservation it is unclear if they are angled forwards or backwards. In life they were positioned along the midline, or symphysis, of the jaw.[1][2]
Classification
[edit]When first described by Obruchev, Syntomodus was placed in the family Helicoprionidae, within the order Bradyodonti and the subclass Holocephali.[4] Syntomodus is now presumed to instead be a member of the family Edestidae, although because the direction its teeth were angled (a characteristic which distinguishes Edestidae and Helicoprionidae) is unclear, this assignment is tentative.[1][2] In 1981 publication, researcher Rainer Zangerl proposed that Syntomodus is the most basal edestid if it is included in that family.[2]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e Ginter, Michał; Hampe, Oliver; Duffin, Christopher J. (2010). Handbook of paleoichthyology: teeth. München: F. Pfeil. p. 132. ISBN 978-3-89937-116-1.
- ^ a b c d Zangerl, Rainer (1981). Chondrichthyes 1: Paleozoic Elasmobranchii (Handbook of Paleoichthyology). Friedrich Pfell (published January 1, 1981). pp. 2–3, 74–94. ISBN 978-3899370454.
- ^ Obroucheva, Natalie V. (2014). "Dmitry Vladimirovich Obruchev: Life and destiny (1900–1970)". Paleontological Journal. 48 (9): 950–963. doi:10.1134/S0031030114090093. ISSN 0031-0301.
- ^ a b Obruchev, Dmitry (1967). Fundamentals of paleontology. A manual for paleontologists and geologists of the USSR. Vol. 11. Jerusalem: Israel Program for Scientific Translations. pp. 353–419.
