Bullhead shark

Bullhead shark
Temporal range:
Horn shark, Heterodontus francisci
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Chondrichthyes
Subclass: Elasmobranchii
Division: Selachii
Superorder: Galeomorphii
Order: Heterodontiformes
Family: Heterodontidae
J. E. Gray, 1851
Genus: Heterodontus
Blainville, 1816
Type species
Squalus portusjacksoni
Species

See text

The bullhead sharks are members of the genus Heterodontus, the only members of the family Heterodontidae and only living members of the order Heterodontiformes. All are relatively small, with the largest species reaching just 1.65 metres (5.5 ft) in maximum length. They are bottom feeders in tropical and subtropical waters.

The Heterodontiforms appear in the fossil record in the Early Jurassic. The oldest fossils of the modern genus date to the Late Jurassic. Despite the very ancient origins of this genus and its abundance in the fossil record, phylogenetic evidence indicates that all extant species in the genus arose from a single common ancestor that survived the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction, with diversification into modern species only starting around the mid-Eocene.[1]

  1. ^ Slater, Tiffany S.; Ashbrook, Kate; Kriwet, Jürgen (2020). Cavin, Lionel (ed.). "Evolutionary relationships among bullhead sharks (Chondrichthyes, Heterodontiformes)". Papers in Palaeontology. 6 (3): 425–437. Bibcode:2020PPal....6..425S. doi:10.1002/spp2.1299. hdl:10468/10339. ISSN 2056-2799.

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