The Edestidae are a poorly known, extinct family of shark-like eugeneodontid holocephalid cartilaginous fish.

Edestidae
Temporal range: 358.9–251.2 Ma Early Carboniferous to Early Triassic
Artist's reconstruction of Edestus heinrichi
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Chondrichthyes
Subclass: Holocephali
Order: Eugeneodontida
Clade: Edestoidea
Family: Edestidae
Jaekel, 1899
Genera

Similar to the related family Helicoprionidae, members of this family possessed a unique "tooth-whorl" on the symphysis of the lower jaw and pectoral fins supported by long radials. In addition to having a tooth-whorl on the lower jaw, at least one species of the genus Edestus had a second tooth-whorl in the upper jaw. The palatoquadrate was either fused to the skull or reduced. Edestids, along with the rest of the Eugeneodontida, are placed within the subclass Holocephali.[1] The family disappeared in the Early Triassic.[2]

Restoration of the skull of E. heinrichi

References

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  1. ^ Tapanila, L.; Pruitt, J.; Pradel, A.; Wilga, C.; Ramsay, J.; Schlader, R.; Didier, D. (2013). "Jaws for a spiral-tooth whorl: CT images reveal novel adaptation and phylogeny in fossil Helicoprion". Biology Letters. 9 (2). doi:10.1098/rsbl.2013.0057. PMC 3639784. PMID 23445952. S2CID 6131252.
  2. ^ Scheyer, Torsten M.; Romano, Carlo; Jenks, Jim; Bucher, Hugo (19 March 2014). "Early Triassic Marine Biotic Recovery: The Predators' Perspective". PLOS ONE. 9 (3): e88987. Bibcode:2014PLoSO...988987S. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0088987. PMC 3960099. PMID 24647136.
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