Ptychodontidae
- Phylum: Chordata
- Class: Chondrichthyes
- Order: Hybodontiformes
- Family: Ptychodontidae
Overview
Ptychodontidae Jaekel, 1898
Common Name: 'Shell crusher'
Extant/Extinct
Key morphological features: The Ptychodontidae include the largest shark of the Late Cretaceous WIS; Ptychodus mortoni. These sharks were durophagous (shell-crushing predators) having plates with rows of domed shell-crushing teeth. They preyed on plentiful inoceramid clams and bivalves of the Western Interior Seaway.
SIZE: Up to 10 meters (32ft)
Paleoecology:
MOBILITY: Mobile (swim)
FEEDING MODE: Predator
HABITAT: epifaunal
Sources:
Everhart, M. J., 2005. Oceans of Kansas: A Natural History of the Western Interior Sea. Indiana University Press, Bloomington. 322 pp.
