Hybodontiformes

Hybodontiformes; Temporal range: Carboniferous–Cretaceous PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
	Ptychodus mortoni, a giant 7 m long durophagous Late Cretaceous shark
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Chondrichthyes
Subclass:	Elasmobranchii
Infraclass:	Euselachii
Order:	†Hybodontiformes; Owen, 1846
Families
	Acrodontidae; Hybodontidae; Lonchidiidae; Polyacrodontidae; Ptychodontidae;

The hybodonts are an extinct group of sharks and are the sister taxa to the Neoselachii (all modern sharks, skates and rays).^[1] They were very successful in their own right and existed as a group for more than 200 million years. Their fossil record extends from the early Carboniferous to the Late Cretaceous. The hybodonts dominated the shark faunas of the Early Mesozoic and unlike modern sharks were abundant in both freshwater and marine habitats. The group went into decline in the second half of the era and are thought to have become extinct in the Maastrichtian, alongside the dinosaurs.^[2]

References

^ http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs12549-010-0032-2?LI=true
^ http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0044632
^ Benton, M. J. (2005) Vertebrate Palaeontology, Blackwell, 3rd edition, Fig 7.13 on page 185.

External links

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[1] ttp://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs12549-010-0032-2?LI=true

[2] ttp://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0044632

[3] Benton, M. J. (2005) Vertebrate Palaeontology, Blackwell, 3rd edition, Fig 7.13 on page 185.

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