Delphyodontos
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| Delphyodontos dacriformes | ||||||||||||
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| Delphyodontos dacriformes (Lund, 1980) |
Delphyodontos (meaning "womb tooth") was a prehistoric holocephalid fish from the early Carboniferous, from the Bear Gulch Limestone Lagerstätte, in Montana. Its fossils consist mainly of aborted fetuses or newly hatched young. Sharp teeth and fecal matter in the fossils suggests that Delphyodontos practiced intrauterine cannibalism[1], like some modern sharks, such as gray reef sharks.
According to the fossils, the recently born would have resembled tadpoles with small, but sharp beaks. Because of the evidence suggesting intrauterine cannibalism, D. dacriformes is assumed to have been carnivorous, though, besides siblings, it is unknown what other organisms they would have eaten.
[edit] External links
[edit] References
- ^ Lund, R. 1980. Viviparity and intrauterine feeding in a new holocephalan fish from the Lower Carboniferous of Montana. Science, 209: 697‑699.
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