Pycnodont
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Pycnodontiformes Temporal range: Late Triassic - Eocene |
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| Gyrodus hexagonus | |
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| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | †Pycnodontiformes |
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Pycnodontiformes is an extinct order of bony fish. The group evolved during the Late Triassic and disappeared during the Eocene. The group has been found in rock formations in Africa, Asia, Europe, North and South America.
The pycnodontiforms were small to middle-sized fish, with laterally-compressed body and almost circular outline.
Pycnodontiform fishes lived mostly in shallow-water seas. They had special jaws with round and flattened teeth, well adapted to crush food items. One study links the dentine tubules in pycnodont teeth to comparable structures in the dermal denticles of early Paleozoic fish. Some species lived in rivers and possibly fed on molluscs and crustaceans.
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