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Heterodontus (bullhead shark)
Taxonomy
Heterodontus was named by de Blainville (1816) [Sepkoski's age data: J Toar-u R Sepkoski's reference number: 1066]. It is extant. It is the type genus of Heterodontidae.
It was assigned to Heterodontiformes by Sepkoski (2002); and to Heterodontidae by Fedorowski (1912), Casier (1946), Jordan (1963), Cassier (1966), Cappetta (1975), Herman (1977), Thurmond and Jones (1981), Thies (1983), Müller and Diedrich (1991), Biddle (1993), Kriwet (1999), Underwood and Mitchell (1999), Cappetta and Case (1999), Underwood (2002), Delsate (2003), Underwood (2004), Cahuzac et al. (2007), Kriwet et al. (2009), Guinot et al. (2013), Cicimurri et al. (2014), Guinot et al. (2014), Pledge et al. (2015), Case et al. (2015), Siversson and Machalski (2017), Ebersole et al. (2019), Feichtinger et al. (2022), Villafaña et al. (2025), Popov et al. (2025).
It was assigned to Heterodontiformes by Sepkoski (2002); and to Heterodontidae by Fedorowski (1912), Casier (1946), Jordan (1963), Cassier (1966), Cappetta (1975), Herman (1977), Thurmond and Jones (1981), Thies (1983), Müller and Diedrich (1991), Biddle (1993), Kriwet (1999), Underwood and Mitchell (1999), Cappetta and Case (1999), Underwood (2002), Delsate (2003), Underwood (2004), Cahuzac et al. (2007), Kriwet et al. (2009), Guinot et al. (2013), Cicimurri et al. (2014), Guinot et al. (2014), Pledge et al. (2015), Case et al. (2015), Siversson and Machalski (2017), Ebersole et al. (2019), Feichtinger et al. (2022), Villafaña et al. (2025), Popov et al. (2025).
Species
Cestracion cainozoicus, Cestracion coleridgensis, Cestracion elongatus, Cestracion francisci, Cestracion longidens, Cestracion novozelandicus, H. boussioni, H. cainozoicus, H. canaliculatus (syn. Acrodus cretaceus), H. carerens, H. creamridgensis, H. duffini, H. granti, H. havreensis, H. laevis, H. lerichei, H. lonzeensis, H. maisierensis, H. paucicarinatus, H. philippi, H. pineti, H. polonicus, H. portujacksoni, H. rugosus, H. semirugosus, H. sowasheense, H. sulcatus, H. upnikensis, H. vincenti, H. wardensis, H. woodwardi
Species lacking formal opinion data
Synonyms
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Synonymy list
| Year | Name and author |
|---|---|
| 1816 | Heterodontus de Blainville |
| 1817 | Cestracion Cuvier |
| 1862 | Gyropleurodus Gill p. 317 |
| 1862 | Tropidodus Gill p. 317 |
| 1889 | Cestracion Woodward p. 331 |
| 1904 | Cestracion Chapman and Pritchard p. 270 |
| 1912 | Heterodontus Fedorowski p. 55 |
| 1918 | Cestracion Chapman p. 6 |
| 1923 | Gyropleurodus Jordan and Hanibal p. 32 |
| 1924 | Cestracion Chapman and Cudmore p. 110 |
| 1926 | Cestracion Bohm p. 75 |
| 1927 | Cestracion Arambourg p. 230 |
| 1938 | Cestracion Weiler p. 9 |
| 1946 | Heterodontus Casier p. 41 |
| 1963 | Cestracion Jordan p. 595 |
| 1963 | Gyropleurodus Jordan p. 595 |
| 1963 | Heterodontus Jordan p. 595 |
| 1963 | Tropidodus Jordan p. 595 |
| 1966 | Heterodontus Cassier p. 51 |
| 1975 | Heterodontus Cappetta p. 118 |
| 1977 | Heterodontus Herman p. 83 |
| 1981 | Heterodontus Thurmond and Jones p. 42 |
| 1983 | Heterodontus Thies p. 28 |
| 1991 | Heterodontobatis Landemaine p. 8 |
| 1991 | Heterodontus Müller and Diedrich p. 22 |
| 1993 | Heterodontus Biddle p. 201 |
| 1999 | Heterodontus Cappetta and Case p. 11 |
| 1999 | Heterodontus Kriwet p. 116 |
| 1999 | Heterodontus Underwood and Mitchell |
| 2002 | Heterodontus Sepkoski |
| 2002 | Heterodontus Underwood |
| 2003 | Heterodontus Delsate p. 8 |
| 2004 | Heterodontus Underwood p. 113 |
| 2007 | Heterodontus Cahuzac et al. p. 14 |
| 2009 | Heterodontus Kriwet et al. p. 320 |
| 2013 | Heterodontus Guinot et al. p. 601 |
| 2014 | Heterodontus Cicimurri et al. pp. 11-12 fig. 8A |
| 2014 | Heterodontus Guinot et al. p. 68 |
| 2015 | Heterodontus Case et al. p. 1121 |
| 2015 | Heterodontus Pledge et al. p. 70 |
| 2017 | Heterodontus Siversson and Machalski p. 457 |
| 2019 | Heterodontus Ebersole et al. p. 15 |
| 2022 | Heterodontus Feichtinger et al. p. 18 |
| 2025 | Heterodontus Popov et al. |
| 2025 | Heterodontus Villafaña et al. p. 8 |
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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. Heterodontus de Blainville 1816 [bullhead shark]
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†Heterodontus boussioni Guinot et al. 2013
†Heterodontus cainozoicus Pledge 1985
†Heterodontus canaliculatus Egerton and Woodward 1889
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Invalid names: Acrodus cretaceus Dixon 1850 [synonym]
†Heterodontus carerens Kriwet 1999
†Heterodontus creamridgensis Case et al. 2001
†Heterodontus duffini Thies 1983
†Heterodontus granti Case and Cappetta 1997
†Heterodontus havreensis Herman 1977
†Heterodontus laevis Guinot et al. 2013
†Heterodontus lerichei Casier 1943
†Heterodontus lonzeensis Herman 1977
†Heterodontus maisierensis Herman 1977
†Heterodontus paucicarinatus Landemaine 1991
Heterodontus philippi Bloch and Schneider 1801
†Heterodontus pineti Fedorowski 1912
†Heterodontus polonicus Rees 2005
Heterodontus portujacksoni Meyer 1793 [Port Jackson shark]
†Heterodontus rugosus Agassiz 1839
†Heterodontus semirugosus Plieninger 1847
†Heterodontus sowasheense Case 1994
†Heterodontus sulcatus Woodward 1889
†Heterodontus upnikensis Dalinkevičius 1935
†Heterodontus vincenti Leriche 1905
†Heterodontus wardensis Cassier 1966
Heterodontus woodwardi Casier 1946
Invalid names: Cestracion Cuvier 1817 [synonym], Gyropleurodus Gill 1862 [synonym], Heterodontobatis Landemaine 1991 [synonym], Tropidodus Gill 1862 [synonym]
Diagnosis
No diagnoses are available
Measurements
No measurements are available
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| Source: c = class, subp = subphylum | |||||
| References: Wagner 2023, Carroll 1988 | |||||
Age range
Maximum range based only on fossils: base of the Fassanian to the top of the Late/Upper Pleistocene or 241.46400 to 0.01170 Ma
Minimum age of oldest fossil (stem group age): 239.48 Ma
Minimum age of oldest fossil (stem group age): 239.48 Ma
Collections (191 total)
Oldest occurrences | |||
| Time interval | Ma | Country or state | Original ID and collection number |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fassanian | Poland | Heterodontus sp. (149685) | |
| Bifrons | Luxembourg | Heterodontus duffini (141382) | |
| Levesquei | Luxembourg | Heterodontus sp. (148935) | |
| Variabilis | Luxembourg | Heterodontus duffini (141383 141384) | |
| Thouarsense | Luxembourg | Heterodontus duffini (141386 141389) | |
| Aalenian | Germany | Heterodontus duffini (137168) | |
| Middle Bathonian | France (Basse-Normandie) | Cestracion sp. (49334) | |
| Late/Upper Kimmeridgian | Germany (Baden-Württemberg) | Heterodontus falcifer (154138) | |
| Late/Upper Kimmeridgian - Early/Lower Tithonian | United Kingdom (England) | Heterodontus semirugosus (140224) | |
| Late/Upper Tithonian - Early/Lower Berriasian | France (Nord-Pas-de-Calais) | Heterodontus sp. (92144 92145) | |
| Early/Lower Valanginian | France (Gard) | Heterodontus sp. 1, Heterodontus sp. 2 (213631) | |
| Late/Upper Valanginian | Poland (Lodzkie) | Heterodontus polonicus (64836) | |
| Late/Upper Valanginian | Poland | Heterodontus polonicus (213518 213519) | |
| Valanginian | France | Heterodontus sp. (214859) | |
| Early/Lower Barremian | Spain (Teruel) | Heterodontus carerens (91420) | |
| Early/Lower Aptian | United Kingdom (England) | Heterodontus sp. (213576 235313) Heterodontus sulcatus (52568 241434 241457) | |
| Late/Upper Aptian | United Kingdom (England) | Heterodontus sp. (241464) Heterodontus sulcatus (241435 241459) | |
| Late/Upper Aptian | France | Heterodontus canaliculatus (214869) | |
| Late/Upper Aptian | Germany | Heterodontus sp. (241408) | |
| Late/Upper Aptian - Early/Lower Albian | United Kingdom (England) | Heterodontus sp. (241463) | |