Bradyodonti

Bradyodonti Temporal range:
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Chondrichthyes
Order:	†Bradyodonti

Bradyodonti is an extinct order of cartilaginous fishes (class Chondrichthyes) that lived in the Paleozoic Era. They first appeared toward the end of the Devonian Period, were present through the Carboniferous Period, and became extinct by the end of the Permian Period.

The following taxa are referred to Bradyodonti:

• Chimaeriformes
• Chondrenchelyiformes
• Cochliodontiformes
• Copodontiformes
• Eugeneodontida
• Helodontiformes
• Iniopterygiformes
• Menaspiformes
• Orodontidae
• Petalodontiformes
• Psammodontidae

Most Bradyodonti fossils consist of jaws and teeth. These indicate that Bradyodonti ate mollusks and other shelled invertebrates. Their bodies were probably broad and flattened, like modern rays.

"Bradyodonti" can also refer to the present-day Chimaera or ratfish of the order Chimaeriformes, which have an upper jaw fused to the braincase and a flap of skin covering the gill slits.

External links

• McGraw-Hill Science Encyclopedia summary
• University of California Museum of Paleontology entry