''Hemipristis'' (from el, ἡμι , 'half' and el, πρίστης 'saw') is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

of weasel sharks,

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Hemigaleidae The weasel sharks are a family, the Hemigaleidae, of ground sharks found from the eastern Atlantic Ocean to the continental Indo-Pacific. They are found in shallow coastal waters to a depth of . Most species are small, reaching no more than ...

. It contains one extant

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

, the

snaggletooth shark The snaggletooth shark, or fossil shark (''Hemipristis elongata''), is a species of weasel shark in the family Hemigaleidae, and the only extant member of the genus ''Hemipristis''. It is found in the Indo-West Pacific, including the Red Sea, from ...

(''H. elongata'') and several extinct species. ''Hemipristis'' has two distinct types of teeth in each section of its jaw. The ones on the upper jaw act as knives, cutting through the flesh of the prey, while the pointed ones on the bottom act as forks, spearing the prey and holding it down. Because this shark was poorly studied in the past and its top and bottom jaw teeth differ to such a great degree, its top and lower jaw teeth were assigned to a separate genus in the past.

Species

* ''

Hemipristis elongata The snaggletooth shark, or fossil shark (''Hemipristis elongata''), is a species of weasel shark in the family Hemigaleidae, and the only extant member of the genus ''Hemipristis''. It is found in the Indo-West Pacific, including the Red Sea, fro ...

'' (Klunzinger, 1871) * †''

Hemipristis curvatus ''Hemipristis curvatus'' is an extinct species of weasel shark which existed during the Eocene The Eocene ( ) Epoch is a geological epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (mya). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene P ...

'' * †''

Hemipristis serra ''Hemipristis serra'' is an extinct species of weasel shark which existed during the Miocene epoch. It was described by Louis Agassiz Jean Louis Rodolphe Agassiz ( ; ) FRS (For) FRSE (May 28, 1807 – December 14, 1873) was a Swiss-born ...

'' - An extinct species from the Oligocene-Miocene of Florida, South Carolina, and other areas on the Atlantic coast.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q887864 Extant Eocene first appearances Shark genera Taxa named by Louis Agassiz Fish genera with one living species

Species

See also

References