Damocles (genus)

Damocles
Temporal range: Mississippian
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Chondrichthyes
Order: Symmoriiformes
Genus: Damocles
Lund, 1986
Type species
* †Damocles serratus
Lund, 1986
Other species
  • D. attenuatus Davis, 1883

Damocles is a genus of chondrichthyan from the Mississippian age Bear Gulch Limestone of Montana and the city of Armagh, Northern Ireland. Two species, D. serratus and D. attenuatus, have been assigned,[1][2] with D. attenuatus originally being classified as a species of the form-genus Physonemus.[2][3] Members of the genus were carnivorous,[1] and males possessed a distinctive serrated, sword-like reproductive organ which was positioned over their head.[2]

  1. ^ a b "PBDB Taxon". paleobiodb.org. Retrieved 9 October 2024.
  2. ^ a b c Lund, Richard (1986-03-07). "On Damocles serratus , nov. gen. et sp. (Elasmobranchii: Cladodontida) from the Upper Mississippian Bear Gulch Limestone of Montana". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 6 (1): 12–19. doi:10.1080/02724634.1986.10011594. ISSN 0272-4634.
  3. ^ "PBDB Taxon". paleobiodb.org. Retrieved 31 October 2024.