Venustodus

Venustodus Temporal range: Carboniferous, 347–307 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Tooth of V. argutus from the collection of the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Chondrichthyes
Subclass:	Holocephali
Order:	Cochliodontiformes?
Family:	Cochliodontidae?
Genus:	Venustodus St. John & Worthen, 1875
Species
†V. argutus St. John & Worthen, 1875 †V. leidyi St. John & Worthen, 1875 †V. robustus St. John & Worthen, 1875 †V. tenuicristatus St. John & Worthen, 1875 †V. variabilis St. John & Worthen, 1875 †V. venustus Leidy, 1857

Venustodus is an extinct genus of cartilaginous fish from the Carboniferous of Russia and the United States. It has been assigned either to the family Cochliodontidae or an indeterminate position within the subclass Holocephali,^[1][2] although in 1984 researcher Rainer Zangerl insisted that nothing is known of the genus' classification and that it may be unrelated to holocephalans.^[3] All species of Venustodus are believed to have been nektonic, marine carnivores.^[1]

References

1. "PBDB Taxon". paleobiodb.org. Retrieved 2 November 2024.
2. "Venustodus". mindat.org. Retrieved 2 November 2024.
3. Bruner, John Clay; Bruner, John Clay; History, Field Museum of Natural (1992). A catalogue of type specimens of fossil fishes in the Field Museum of Natural History. Chicago, Ill: Fieldiana Geology. p. 32. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.3361.