Xenacanthus

Xenacanthus; Temporal range: Carboniferous–Permian PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
	Skeletal reconstruction of Xenacanthus decheni
	Life restoration of Xenacanthus
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Chondrichthyes
Subclass:	Elasmobranchii
Order:	†Xenacanthida
Family:	†Xenacanthidae
Genus:	†Xenacanthus; Beyrich, 1848
Type species
	Xenacanthus decheni;
Species
	See text
Synonyms
	Pleuracanthus Agassiz 1837

Xenacanthus (from Ancient Greek ξένος, xénos, 'foreign, alien' + ἄκανθος, akanthos, 'spine') is a genus of prehistoric xenacanths. It lived in the freshwater environment, and fossils of various species have been found worldwide.

Description[edit]

Xenacanthus is relatively small member in its order.^[1] X. decheni reached about 1 m (3.3 ft),^[2] X. meisenheimensis reached up to 1.2 m (3.9 ft),^[3] X. (Expleuracanthus) gaudryi reached 58 cm (1.90 ft).^[4] X. parallelus is one of the smallest xenacanth, male reached 20 cm (0.66 ft) and female reached 34 cm (1.12 ft), both are fully grown.^[5]

The dorsal fin was ribbonlike and ran the entire length of the back and round the tail, where it joined with the anal fin. This arrangement resembles that of modern conger eels, and Xenacanthus probably swam in a similar manner. A distinctive spine projected from the back of the head and gave the genus its name. The spike has even been speculated to have been venomous, perhaps in a similar manner to a sting ray. The teeth had an unusual "V" shape, and it probably fed on small crustaceans and heavily scaled palaeoniscid fishes.^[6]

As with many xencanths, Xenacanthus is mainly known because of fossilised teeth and spines.

Fossils are known from the Carboniferous-Permian of North America, Europe, and South America. Triassic species have been moved into the separate genus Mooreodontus.^[7]^[8]^[9]

Species[edit]

X. texensis
X. atriossis
X. compressus
X. indicus
X. decheni
X. denticulatus
X. erectus
X. gibbosus
X. gracilis
X. howsei
X. laevissimus
X. latus
X. luedernesis
X. ossiani
X. ovalis
X. parallelus
X. ragonhai - Rio do Rasto Formation, Brazil
X. robustus
X. serratus
X. slaughteri
X. taylori

References[edit]

^ Beck, Kimberley G.; oler-Gijón, Rodrigo; Carlucci, Jesse R.; Willis, Ray E. (December 2014). "Morphology and Histology of Dorsal Spines of the Xenacanthid Shark Orthacanthus platypternus from the Lower Permian of Texas, USA: Palaeobiological and Palaeoenvironmental Implications". Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. 61 (1): 97–117. doi:10.4202/app.00126.2014
^ Schneider, Joerg W.; Zajíc, Jaroslav (1994). "Xenacanths (Pisces, Chondrichthyes) of the Middle European Upper Carboniferous and Permian - revision of the originals to Goldfuss 1847, Beyrich 1848, Kner 1867 and Fritsch 1879-1890". Freiberger Forschungshefte-Reihe C-Geowissenschaften. 452: 101–152.
^ Heidtke, U.H.J. (2003). "Neue Rekonstruktionen xenacanthider Haie aus dem Permokarbon des Saar-Nahe-Beckens (SW-Deutschland)" (PDF). Mitteilungen der Pollichia. 90: 19–28.
^ Albert, James S.; Johnson, Derek M.; Knouft, Jason H. (2009). "Fossils provide better estimates of ancestral body size than do extant taxa in fishes". Acta Zoologica. 90 (s1): 357–384. doi:10.1111/j.1463-6395.2008.00364.x. ISSN 0001-7272.
^ Soler-Gijón, R. (2004). "Development and growth in xenacanth sharks: new data from Upper Carboniferous of Bohemia". G. Arratia, M.V.H. Wilson, and R. Cloutier (eds.), Recent Advances in the Origin and Early Radiation of Vertebrates: 533–562.
^ Palmer, D., ed. (1999). The Marshall Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals. London: Marshall Editions. p. 27. ISBN 1-84028-152-9.
^ Carpenter, D.; Falcon-Lang, H. J.; Benton, M. J.; Nelson, W. J. (2011-10-01). "FISHES AND TETRAPODS IN THE UPPER PENNSYLVANIAN (KASIMOVIAN) COHN COAL MEMBER OF THE MATTOON FORMATION OF ILLINOIS, UNITED STATES: SYSTEMATICS, PALEOECOLOGY, AND PALEOENVIRONMENTS". PALAIOS. 26 (10): 639–657. doi:10.2110/palo.2010.p10-121r. ISSN 0883-1351.
^ Voigt, Sebastian; Schindler, Thomas; Tichomirowa, Marion; Käßner, Alexandra; Schneider, Joerg W.; Linnemann, Ulf (October 2022). "First high-precision U–Pb age from the Pennsylvanian-Permian of the continental Saar–Nahe Basin, SW Germany". International Journal of Earth Sciences. 111 (7): 2129–2147. doi:10.1007/s00531-022-02222-0. ISSN 1437-3254.
^ Pauliv, Victor E.; Dias, Eliseu V.; Sedor, Fernando A.; Ribeiro, Ana Maria (March 2014). "A new Xenacanthiformes shark (Chondrichthyes, Elasmobranchii) from the Late Paleozoic Rio do Rasto Formation (Paraná Basin), Southern Brazil". Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciências. 86 (1): 135–145. doi:10.1590/0001-37652014107612. ISSN 0001-3765.

External links[edit]

Data related to Xenacanthus at Wikispecies
Media related to Xenacanthus at Wikimedia Commons

[1] Beck, Kimberley G.; oler-Gijón, Rodrigo; Carlucci, Jesse R.; Willis, Ray E. (December 2014). "Morphology and Histology of Dorsal Spines of the Xenacanthid Shark Orthacanthus platypternus from the Lower Permian of Texas, USA: Palaeobiological and Palaeoenvironmental Implications". Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. 61 (1): 97–117. doi:10.4202/app.00126.2014

[2] Schneider, Joerg W.; Zajíc, Jaroslav (1994). "Xenacanths (Pisces, Chondrichthyes) of the Middle European Upper Carboniferous and Permian - revision of the originals to Goldfuss 1847, Beyrich 1848, Kner 1867 and Fritsch 1879-1890". Freiberger Forschungshefte-Reihe C-Geowissenschaften. 452: 101–152.

[3] Heidtke, U.H.J. (2003). "Neue Rekonstruktionen xenacanthider Haie aus dem Permokarbon des Saar-Nahe-Beckens (SW-Deutschland)" (PDF). Mitteilungen der Pollichia. 90: 19–28.

[4] Albert, James S.; Johnson, Derek M.; Knouft, Jason H. (2009). "Fossils provide better estimates of ancestral body size than do extant taxa in fishes". Acta Zoologica. 90 (s1): 357–384. doi:10.1111/j.1463-6395.2008.00364.x. ISSN 0001-7272.

[5] Soler-Gijón, R. (2004). "Development and growth in xenacanth sharks: new data from Upper Carboniferous of Bohemia". G. Arratia, M.V.H. Wilson, and R. Cloutier (eds.), Recent Advances in the Origin and Early Radiation of Vertebrates: 533–562.

[EoDP-6] Palmer, D., ed. (1999). The Marshall Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals. London: Marshall Editions. p. 27. ISBN 1-84028-152-9.

[7] Carpenter, D.; Falcon-Lang, H. J.; Benton, M. J.; Nelson, W. J. (2011-10-01). "FISHES AND TETRAPODS IN THE UPPER PENNSYLVANIAN (KASIMOVIAN) COHN COAL MEMBER OF THE MATTOON FORMATION OF ILLINOIS, UNITED STATES: SYSTEMATICS, PALEOECOLOGY, AND PALEOENVIRONMENTS". PALAIOS. 26 (10): 639–657. doi:10.2110/palo.2010.p10-121r. ISSN 0883-1351.

[8] Voigt, Sebastian; Schindler, Thomas; Tichomirowa, Marion; Käßner, Alexandra; Schneider, Joerg W.; Linnemann, Ulf (October 2022). "First high-precision U–Pb age from the Pennsylvanian-Permian of the continental Saar–Nahe Basin, SW Germany". International Journal of Earth Sciences. 111 (7): 2129–2147. doi:10.1007/s00531-022-02222-0. ISSN 1437-3254.

[9] Pauliv, Victor E.; Dias, Eliseu V.; Sedor, Fernando A.; Ribeiro, Ana Maria (March 2014). "A new Xenacanthiformes shark (Chondrichthyes, Elasmobranchii) from the Late Paleozoic Rio do Rasto Formation (Paraná Basin), Southern Brazil". Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciências. 86 (1): 135–145. doi:10.1590/0001-37652014107612. ISSN 0001-3765.

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v t e Xenacanthidae
Genera	Mooreodontus Plicatodus Triodus Xenacanthus Wurdigneria
Related articles	Xenacanthida