Ctenacanthiformes is an
extinct
Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...
order
Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to:
* Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood
* Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of d ...
of
chondrichthyan
Chondrichthyes (; ) is a class that contains the cartilaginous fishes that have skeletons primarily composed of cartilage. They can be contrasted with the Osteichthyes or ''bony fishes'', which have skeletons primarily composed of bone tissue. C ...
fish. They possessed ornamented fin spines and
cladodont This is a typical Cladodont tooth, of a shark called ''Glikmanius''">Glikmanius.html" ;"title="shark called ''Glikmanius">shark called ''Glikmanius''
Cladodont (from Latin cladus, meaning branch and Greek Odon, meaning tooth) is the term for a com ...
dentition. Members of the family Ctenacanthidae may have survived into the
Cretaceous
The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of th ...
based on teeth found in deep water deposits of
Valanginian
In the geologic timescale, the Valanginian is an age or stage of the Early or Lower Cretaceous. It spans between 139.8 ± 3.0 Ma and 132.9 ± 2.0 Ma (million years ago). The Valanginian Stage succeeds the Berriasian Stage of the Lower Cretaceou ...
age in France and Austria.
References
Prehistoric cartilaginous fish orders
{{Paleo-cartilaginous-fish-stub