In Depth
With a bulbous head, strongly arched back and dorsal fin that was so far back it sat near above the pelvic fins, Cobelodus was not a shark that was built for speed. Instead it may have cruised around near the bottom hunting for crustaceans and other invertebrates that did not require active pursuit.
The pectoral fins are two thirty centimetre appendages that trail from the pectoral fins. These appear to have been made out of cartilage and were flexible enough to be moved. Whether these appendages were for signalling and display, or even ‘feeling’ for prey items, we just don’t know.
Further Reading
– Chondrichthyes I: Paleozoic Elasmobranchii, by R. Zangerl – In, Handbook of Paleoichthyology, H. P. Schultze [ed]. – 1981. – Early Permian chondrichthyans of the middle and south Urals. – Revista Brasileira de Paleontologia 8(2):127-138. – A. Ivanov – 2005.
