Janassa

Janassa is an extinct genus of cartilaginous fish. It lived in marine environments in what is now central United States of America and Europe during the Carboniferous and upper Permian. It is known from teeth and a few poorly preserved body fossils from Germany.

It was possibly related to the modern-day ratfish.

Description

According to the fossils, Janassa had a body plan very similar to that of the modern skate. However, Janassa was a petalodont, a kind of ancient cartilaginous fish related to chimaeras. Its teeth suggest it crushed and ate shellfish, such as brachiopods.

Species

Janassa bituminosa Schlotheim, 1820 (type species)
Janassa clavata M'Coy, 1855
Janassa kochi Nielsen, 1932
Janassa clarki Lund, 1989
Janassa unguicula Eastman, 1903

Type species

The type species is Janassa bituminosa.

Related pages

References

Schaumberg, Günther (1977). "Die Richelsdorfer Kupferschiefer und seiner Fossilien, III". Aufschluss. 28: 297–352.