Cretoxyrhina mantelli

Taxobox
name = "Cretoxyrhina mantelli"
status = fossil
fossil_range = Early Cretaceous

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regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Chondrichthyes
subclassis = Elasmobranchii
superordo = Selachimorpha
ordo = Lamniformes
genus = "Cretoxyrhina"
species = "C. mantelli"
binomial = "Cretoxyrhina mantelli"

"Cretoxyrhina mantelli", the "Jaws of the Cretaceous", was a shark that lived in the Cretaceous period in the Western Interior Sea, about 100 million years ago. "C. mantelli" grew up to 24 feet (7 meters) long, and is known from several nearly complete skeletal fossils. Its name means "Mantell's chalk-sharp-nose". The teeth of "C. mantelli" were 5 cm long, curved, and smooth-edged, with a thick enamel coating.

"C. mantelli" became extinct 90 million years ago. A majority of the remains have been found in Kansas.

External links

* [http://www.elasmo-research.org/education/evolution/cretoxyrhina.htm ReefQuest]