Ctenacanthus amblyxiphias was a shark species that swam in the oceans of
Kansas during the Permian period. Mike Everhart discusses Ctenacanthus in this
excerpt from Oceans of Kansas:

"The dorsal fin spines of Ctenacanthus sharks are found in marine deposits
from Devonian through Permian time. As shown above (in reference to a drawing on
the web page) Ctenacanthids have a pair of rigid fin spines that emerge in front
of each of two dorsal fins. The name Ctenacanthus literally means "fin spine"
and comes from the distinctive comb-like appearance of the two fin spines. The
dorsal fin spines are ornamented with thin rows of dentine-like material that
looks like strings of beads in some areas. Ctenacanthid spines were
sub-cylindrical and pointed, and in life they were supported by a wedge of
cartilage that inserted into a groove on the posterior side of the fin spine."

Photographs of Ctenacanthus amblyxiphias can be seen of the Oceans of Kansas
website. The address of the site is:

www.oceansofkansas.com/index.html

Neal Robbins

P.S. The taxonomy of this species is:

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Chondrichthyes
Subclass: Elasmobranchii
Order: Ctenacanthiformes
Family: Ctenacanthidae
Genus: Ctenacanthus
Species: Ctenacanthus amblyxiphias







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