Chondrenchelys problematica

Chondrenchelys is an extinct genus of cartilaginous fish and the earliest member of Holocephali known from complete skeletons. Chondrenchelys would have been quite a relatively medium-sized fish with an elongated body up to 18 cm (0.59 ft)in length, it had a dorsal fin which was indeed long and a body which tapered to a point. Chondrenchelys had one large pair, one middle-sized pair, and three small pair of tooth plates in each jaw. The genus name derives from the Greek word χόνδρος, meaning “gristle” or “cartilage”, and ἔγχελυς, meaning “eel”. The speciea name, problematicus, is likely derived from the lack of scales setting it apart from all other fish known at the time of discovery.

Chondrenchelys problematica

Gasmasque · CC BY 4.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Sits inside
ChondrenchelysPBDB
Diet
carnivorePBDB, for Holocephali
Life habit
nektobenthicPBDB, for Holocephali
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Holocephali

Time the record covers

At most 6.8 million years on record.

The one occurrence read is dated to somewhere between 346.7 Mya and 339.9 Mya, which is a dating window rather than a span.

Carboniferous — about 1 of 1 occurrenceCarboniferous347–347 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences347–346 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences346–346 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences346–346 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences346–346 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences346–345 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences345–345 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences345–345 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences345–345 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences345–344 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences344–344 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences344–344 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences344–344 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences344–343 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences343–343 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences343–343 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences343–343 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences343–342 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences342–342 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences342–342 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences342–341 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences341–341 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences341–341 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences341–341 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences341–340 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences340–340 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences340–340 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences340–340 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences347.2 Mya339.4 Mya

1 occurrence of Chondrenchelys problematica on record, most of them in the Carboniferous. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

1 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

1 formation

Glencartholm Volcanic Beds — 55.20°N, 3.07°W

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The named rock units Chondrenchelys problematica has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed.

Chondrenchelys problematica and its relatives

Carboniferous

Where Chondrenchelys problematica and its relatives were recorded in the Carboniferous.

Found in the same rock

38 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 1 site for Chondrenchelys problematica, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

1 reference

Each of the 1 occurrence read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. Each entry links to the Paleobiology Database's own record for the work.

Media and terms

Media content1

Picture of Chondrenchelys problematica

Credit
Gasmasque
Licence
CC BY 4.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

No 3D scan was found. Smithsonian Open Access, MorphoSource and Sketchfab were all searched.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itChondrenchelys through timeFormations of the CarboniferousThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Traquair 1888