Cladoselache was a 6 foot long primitive proto-shark which lived during the late Devonian Period 370-360 million years ago. Several publications from the 20th Century state that Cladoselache was the oldest-known shark. However, studies from the early 2000s onwards have… Read More ›
Stethacanthus was a primitive proto-shark which swam the seas from the late Devonian Period to the end of the Carboniferous Period approximately 380-300 million years ago. Fossils of various species of this genus have been found worldwide. Stethacanthus is distinctive… Read More ›
Diplodoselache, meaning “double-toothed shark”, was a prehistoric freshwater proto-shark which lived in Scotland during the early Carboniferous Period 345-330 million years ago. Teeth of this animal were discovered in the Wardie Shale Formation of Scotland’s Midland Valley during the 1840s,… Read More ›
Xenacanthus, meaning “strange spine”, was a 3 foot long shark-like freshwater fish which lived in North America, South America, Europe, and Asia from the second half of the Carboniferous Period to the end of the Permian Period, approximately 323-251 million… Read More ›
Orthacanthus, meaning “straight spine”, was a 10 foot long freshwater shark-like fish which lived during the late Carboniferous Period and early Permian Period roughly 315-275 million years ago. The genus Orthacanthus is divided into twelve different species, two of which… Read More ›
Synechodus was a genus of prehistoric saltwater shark which lived from the early Permian Period until the late Eocene Epoch of the Paleogene Period, 290 to 37 million years ago (Ivanov 2005, pages 127-138). Fossils of this animal reached around… Read More ›
Lissodus was a prehistoric shark which lived from the early Triassic to the middle Cretaceous Period, about 250 to 110 million years ago, give or take. Named in 1835, it was a member of a group of sharks called the… Read More ›
NOTE: This article was originally published on May 4, 2022. On December 30, 2025, it was updated and re-uploaded. Polyacrodus was a genus of prehistoric shark, composed of several species, with fossils found in North America, South America, Europe, Asia, and… Read More ›
A creature that’s often mistaken for a dinosaur is Dimetrodon. If you’re an adult reading this, you may not recognize the name, but you’ll probably know it when you see it. Ask any 6 year old child, and he or… Read More ›
DINOSAURS AND BARBARIANS 