PBDB Taxon

Basic info	Taxonomic history	Classification	Included Taxa
Morphology	Ecology and taphonomy	External Literature Search	Age range and collections

Sphenodus

Chondrichthyes - Synechodontiformes - Orthacodontidae

Taxonomy

Sphenodus was named by Agassiz (1843) [Sepkoski's age data: J Sine T Dani Sepkoski's reference number: 884].

It was reranked as Lamna (Sphenodus) by Agassiz (1843).

It was assigned to Lamna by Agassiz (1843); to Lamninae by Hay (1902); to Lamnidae by Jordan (1963); to Hexanchiformes by Sepkoski (2002); and to Orthacodontidae by Grande and Chatterjee (1987), Duffin and Ward (1993), Rees (2000), Guinot et al. (2014), Stumpf and Kriwet (2019).

Species

Lamna (Sphenodus) longidens, Lamna (Sphenodus) plana, Orthacodus helveticus, S. alpinus, S. helveticus, S. longidens, S. lundgreni, S. nitidus, S. rectidens

Synonyms

Orthacodus was named by Woodward (1889).

It was synonymized objectively with Sphenodus by Duffin and Ward (1993).

It was assigned to Lamnidae by Woodward (1889), Jordan (1963); and to Orthacodontidae by Itoigawa (1977), Uyeno et al. (1981).

Synonymy list

Year	Name and author
1843	Lamna (Sphenodus) Agassiz p. 288
1843	Sphenodus Agassiz p. 288
1889	Orthacodus Woodward p. 349
1902	Sphenodus Hay p. 302
1963	Orthacodus Jordan p. 599
1963	Sphenodus Jordan p. 599
1977	Orthacodus Itoigawa p. 128
1981	Orthacodus Uyeno et al. p. 84 figs. pl.1, fg. J, N-O
1987	Sphenodus Grande and Chatterjee
1993	Sphenodus Duffin and Ward p. 56
2000	Sphenodus Rees p. 415
2002	Sphenodus Sepkoski
2014	Sphenodus Guinot et al. p. 61
2019	Sphenodus Stumpf and Kriwet p. 644

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Rank	Name	Author
kingdom	Animalia	()
—	Bilateria
—	Eubilateria	Ax 1987
—	Deuterostomia
phylum	Chordata	Haeckel 1874
subphylum	Vertebrata
superclass	Gnathostomata

Rank	Name	Author
class	Chondrichthyes
subclass	Elasmobranchii	Bonaparte 1838
infraclass	Euselachii	()
—	Neoselachii	Compagno 1977
order	Synechodontiformes
family	Orthacodontidae	de Beaumont 1960
genus	Sphenodus

If no rank is listed, the taxon is considered an unranked clade in modern classifications. Ranks may be repeated or presented in the wrong order because authors working on different parts of the classification may disagree about how to rank taxa.

G. †Sphenodus Agassiz 1843

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†Lamna (Sphenodus) longidens Agassiz 1843

†Lamna (Sphenodus) plana Agassiz 1843

†Sphenodus alpinus Guembel 1861

†Sphenodus helveticus de Beaumont 1960

†Sphenodus longidens Agassiz 1843

†Sphenodus lundgreni Davis 1890

†Sphenodus nitidus Wagner 1862

†Sphenodus rectidens Emmons 1858

Invalid names: Orthacodus Woodward 1889 [objective synonym]

Diagnosis

No diagnoses are available

Measurements

No measurements are available

Composition:

phosphaticsubp

Environment:

marinesubp

Locomotion:

actively mobileo

Life habit:

nektonico

Diet:

carnivoreo

Created:

2009-07-21 07:23:41

Modified:

2009-07-21 09:23:41

Source: o = order, subp = subphylum

References: Wagner 2023, Carroll 1988, Hendy et al. 2009

Age range: base of the Rhaetian to the top of the Bartonian or 205.70000 to 37.71000 Ma

Collections (46 total)

Time interval	Ma	Country or state	Original ID and collection number
Rhaetian	205.7 - 201.4	France (Bourgogne-Franche-Comté)	S. sp. (90876)
Jurassic - Early/Lower Cretaceous	201.4 - 100.5	United Kingdom (England)	Orthacodus sp. (241438) S. sp. (241465 241466)
Late/Upper Pliensbachian	192.9 - 184.2	Sweden (Scania)	S. sp. (90692)
Spinatum	192.9 - 184.2	Germany (Mecklenburg-Vorpommern)	S. sp. (206457)
Toarcian	184.2 - 174.7	France	Orthacodus alpinus (146879)
Early/Lower Bajocian	170.9 - 168.6	France (Grand Est)	S. longidens (179498)
Middle Bathonian	168.2 - 165.3	Poland	S. sp. (141267 141269 141297)
Late/Upper Callovian	165.3 - 161.5	Poland	S. sp., S. longidens (117993)
Middle Callovian	165.3 - 161.5	Poland	S. longidens (97035)
Late/Upper Kimmeridgian	152.21 - 149.2	Germany (Baden-Württemberg)	S. macer (90447) S. macer, S. nitidus (154138)
Tithonian	149.2 - 143.1	Tanzania (Lindi)	S. sp. (47155)
Early/Lower Valanginian	137.05 - 132.6	France (Gard)	S. nitidus (213631)
Late/Upper Valanginian	137.05 - 132.6	Austria	S. sp. (55585)
Valanginian	137.05 - 132.6	France	S. sp. (214859)
Early/Lower Hauterivian	132.6 - 125.77	United Kingdom (England)	S. sp. (66421)
Early/Lower Hauterivian	132.6 - 125.77	France (Lyon)	Sphenodus indet. (133597)
Late/Upper Hauterivian	132.6 - 125.77	United Kingdom (England)	S. sp. (66419 66420)
Cenomanian - Turonian	100.5 - 89.8	Japan (Hokkaido)	Orthacodus longidens (210760)
Late/Upper Cretaceous	100.5 - 66.0	Japan (Hokkaido)	Orthacodus sp., Orthacodus longidens (161435) S. sp. (161434)
Late/Upper Cretaceous	100.5 - 66.0	Japan (Fukushima)	Orthacanthus sp. (72267)
Turonian	93.9 - 89.8	Japan (Hokkaido)	Orthacodus longidens (210761)
Turonian - Coniacian	93.9 - 85.7	Japan (Hokkaido)	Orthacodus longidens (210757)
Turonian - Santonian	93.9 - 83.6	Japan (Hokkaido)	Orthacodus longidens (210744)
Early/Lower Santonian	85.7 - 83.6	Japan	S. sp. (219958)
Santonian	85.7 - 83.6	Japan (Hokkaido)	Orthacodus longidens (210742 210743) Orthacodus sp. (210758)
Santonian	85.7 - 83.6	Japan	S. sp. (219963) S. sp. 1, S. sp., S. lundgreni (228160)
Campanian	83.6 - 72.2	Japan (Teshio)	Orthacodus longidens (39821)
Late/Upper Campanian	83.6 - 72.2	Japan (Ehime)	Orthacodus longidens (161436)
Late/Upper Maastrichtian	72.2 - 66.0	Antarctica	S. sp. (221133)
Maastrichtian	72.2 - 66.0	India (Andhra Pradesh)	Orthacodus sp. (58100)
Danian	66.0 - 61.66	Denmark	Oxyrhina lundgreni (89866) S. lundgreni (241429)
Danian - Selandian	66.0 - 59.24	Russian Federation (Volgograd)	S. sp. (38076)
Selandian - Thanetian	61.66 - 56.0	New Zealand	S. lundgreni (90578 90579)
Bartonian	41.03 - 37.71	Canada (British Columbia)	Orthacodus sp. (126111)