Triodus sesselis - A Shark of Long Ago

[Neal Robbins]

Triodus sesselis was a freshwater shark species. It lived during the Permian period (299-251 million years ago). Fossils of it have been found in Germany.
Triodus belonged to an order of sharks called Xenacanthiformes. They originated during the upper Devonian. They are often referred to as eel sharks. Xenacanthiformes went extinct at the end of the Triassic period, which was about 205 million years ago. The reason for their extinction is not known. It might have been due to competition from other sharks and aquatic reptiles, such as Ichthyosaurs.

Neal Robbins

P.S. The taxonomy of Triodus sesselis is:

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Chondrichthyes
Subclass: Elasmobranchii
Superorder: Selachimorpha
Order: Xenacanthiformes
Family: Xenacanthidae
Genus: Triodus
Species: Triodus sesselis

[Neal Robbins]

A fossil photograph of Triodus sesselis is on this link:

http://www.fx-unlimited.at/triodus.html

This fossil was found in the Pfalz area of Germany. As I mentioned in another post, the shark species Triodus sesselis lived during the Permian period (299 - 251 million years ago).

Neal Robbins

[Neal Robbins]

A piece of artwork depicting Triodus is on this link. The Triodus is being chased by an Oracanthus, which was another type of shark.

http://prehistoricsillustrated.com/fs_triodus.html

[Note - Oracanthus and Triodus were of the same order, i.e. Xenacanthiformes.]

Neal Robbins