Agaleus is an extinct genus of stem-galeomorph shark from the Early Jurassic Epoch. The genus Agaleus is monotypic, consisting solely of the species Agaleus dorsetensis. This species is currently only known from isolated teeth.

Agaleus dorsetensis
Temporal range: Sinemurian-Pliensbachian
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Chondrichthyes
Subclass: Elasmobranchii
Subdivision: Selachimorpha
Family: Agaleidae
Genus: Agaleus
Duffin & Ward, 1983
Species:
A. dorsetensis
Binomial name
Agaleus dorsetensis
Duffin & Ward, 1983

Taxonomy edit

Some authorities have placed this species as a basal member of the order Orectolobiformes, but subsequent researchers have found it to be a stem-galeomorph just outside the crown group of Orectolobiformes.[1]

Distribution edit

It is known from the Sinemurian of Lyme Regis, England and the Pliensbachian-aged Hasle Formation of Denmark.[2] Other places which have produced this species include Northern Ireland, France, Belgium, and Sweden. Possible later occurrences of this genus in north-western Europe have been documented but not yet formally attributed to the genus.

References edit

  1. ^ Rees, Jan; Cuny, Gilles (Mar 2007). "On the enigmatic neoselachianAgaleus dorsetensisfrom the European Early Jurassic". GFF. 129 (1): 1–6. Bibcode:2007GFF...129....1R. doi:10.1080/11035890701291001. ISSN 1103-5897. S2CID 128875354.
  2. ^ Rees, K. 1998. Early Jurassic selachians from the Hasle Formation on Bornholm, Denmark. - Acta Palaeontologica polonica 43, 3, 439-452