Listracanthus

Taxobox
name = "Listracanthus"
status = fossil
fossil_range = Late Carboniferous to Triassic


image_width = 250px
image_caption = "Listracanthus hystrix"
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Chondrichthyes
subclassis = ?Holocephali
ordo = Eugeneodontida
familia = Edestidae
genus = "Listracanthus""Listracanthus" is a genus of extinct cartilaginous fish related to "Edestus". They are known primarily from their tremendous, feather-like denticles, which range up to four inches in length. The denticles had a large main spine, with secondary spines emanating from the sides, like a feather or a comb. "Listracanthus" first appeared in late Carboniferous strata in North America, and eventually disappear from the fossil record some time during the Late Triassic, making it one of the longest-lived genera in the family Edestidae.

The appearance of these sharks are largely unknown. However, author and illustrator Ray Troll mentions in his book, Sharkabet, about how paleontologist Rainer Zangerl once discovered a large shale slab containing a long, eel-like fish covered in long, spine-like denticles, only to have it dry out and crumble into dust. As such, according to Zangerl's account, Troll reconstructs "Listracanthus" as resembling a tremendous, fiercely-bristled frill shark.