Name:
Lonchidion.
Phonetic: Lon-che-dy-on.
Named By: R. Estes - 1964.
Synonyms: Priscavolucris.
Classification: Chordata, Chondrichthyes,
Elasmobranchii, Selachimorpha, Hybodontiformes, Hybodontoidea,
Hybodontidae.
Species: L. anitae, L. breve, L.
crenulatum, L. humblei, L. indicus, L. inflexum, L.
khoratensis, L. microselachos, L. monteschi, L. selachas,
L. selachos, L. striatum.
Diet: Carnivore.
Size: Unavailable.
Known locations: Canada,
Saskatchewan -
Frenchman Formation. England - Durlston
Formation, Tunbridge
Wells Sand Formation. Germany - B�ckeberg
Formation. India -
Kota Formation. Spain - Artoles Formation,
Camarillas
Formation, El Castellar Formation, La Pedrera de R�bies Formation,
Vega de Pas Formation. Tanzania - Tendaguru
Formation.
Thailand - Sao Khua Formation. USA,
Arizona - Chinle
Formation, Colorado - Laramie Formation, Montana -
Fruitland Formation, New Mexico - Petrified Forest Formation,
San Pedro Arroyo Formation, North Dakota - Hell Creek
Formation, Oklahoma - Antlers Formation, Texas - Aguja
Formation, Tecovas Formation, Twin Mountains Formation, Utah -
Masuk Formation, Wyoming - Cloverly Formation, Ferris
Formation, Lance Formation, Mesaverde Formation.
Time period: Norian of the Triassic through to the
Maastrichtian of the Cretaceous.
Fossil representation: Mostly known from teeth,
fossilised egg capsules are also known.
Lonchidion is a genus of very successful hybodontid shark that lived for most of the Mesozoic. Most fossils attributed to Lonchidion are Cretaceous in age, though Jurassic and even Late Triassic fossils are also known. Also, while Lonchidion has been mostly associated with North America and Europe, fossils from Africa and Asia are now starting to be identified, hinting at a cosmopolitan (global) distribution for the genus across different species. Hybodont sharks like Lonchidion are seen as being generalists, capable of hunting and efficiently killing anything from fish and cephalopods, to shelled crustaceans. It is this adaptability which is seen as the main reason for the success of this shark genus, and it is also mirrored within some of the relative shark genera to Lonchidion such as Hybodus.
Further reading
- Fossil vertebrates from the Late Cretaceous Lance Formation,
eastern Wyoming. - University of California Publications in
Geological Sciences 49:1-180. - R. Estes - 1964.
- A selachian freshwater fauna from the Triassic of Kyrgyzstan and
its implication for Mesozoic shark nurseries. - Journal of
Vertebrate Paleontology 31 (5): 937–953. - Jan Fischer,
Sebastian Voigt, J�rg W. Schneider, Michael Buchwitz &
Silke Voigt - 2011.