''Saivodus'' is a genus of

ctenacanthiform Ctenacanthiformes is an extinct order of chondrichthyan fish. They possessed ornamented fin spines and cladodont dentition. Members of the family Ctenacanthidae may have survived into the Cretaceous based on teeth found in deep water deposits of ...

fish from the

Carboniferous The Carboniferous ( ) is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic that spans 60 million years from the end of the Devonian Period million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Permian Period, million years ago. The name ''Carbonifero ...

period. Fossils have been found in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

Taxonomy

''Saivodus'' was erected in 2006. The single species belonging to this genus was formerly included in the unrelated genus ''

Cladodus ''Cladodus'' is an extinct genus of cartilaginous fishes in the family Cladoselachidae. As the name implies, they are a type of cladodont, primitive sharks with teeth designed to snag fish and swallow them whole, instead of sawing off chunks to ...

''.

Description

Based on tooth measurements, ''Saivodus'' would have been the largest member of its group currently known, reaching lengths of up to . The shape of the teeth suggest it targeted soft-bodied prey.

References

{{reflist Prehistoric cartilaginous fish genera Carboniferous sharks