Holocephali
subclass of cartilaginous fish
Holocephali ("complete heads") is a subclass of cartilaginous fish, of which the order Chimaeriformes is the only surviving group.
| Holocephali Temporal range: 416–present Devonian–present
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| Hydrolagus colliei, a rat fish | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Chondrichthyes |
| Subclass: | Holocephali |
| Orders | |
Holocephali have a long fossil record that starts during the Devonian period. However, most fossils are teeth, and the body forms of numerous species are not known, or, at best, poorly understood. Sequence analysis on living chimaera suggests the whole group originated 420 million years ago in the Silurian period.[2]
References
change- ↑ Coates, M., Gess, R., Finarelli, J., Criswell, K., Tietjen, K. 2016. A symmoriiform chondrichthyan braincase and the origin of chimaeroid fishes. Nature. doi:10.1038/nature20806
- ↑ Inoue J.G. et al 2010. Evolutionary origin and phylogeny of the modern holocephalans (Chondrichthyes: Chimaeriformes): a mitogenomic perspective. Molecular Biology and Evolution. 27 (11): 2576-2586.
