Definitions
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun Plural form of
acanthodian .
Etymologies
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Examples
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The acanthodians are a group of fishes characterized by a shark-like appearance and the presence of numerous spines, whose relationships to modern jawed vertebrates are still poorly understood.
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Among the structures most similar to true teeth in the acanthodians are cheek scales - multi-cusped scales on the outside of the mouth that looked like the tooth whorls set in the jaw.
Wired Top Stories Brian Switek 2011
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As seen in the acanthodians from the site, teeth had already developed within some groups of jawed fish.
Wired Top Stories Brian Switek 2011
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Among the fossils found here are acanthodians - the so-called "spiny sharks" which are thought to be the oldest vertebrates to possess true teeth - and what Blais and colleagues consider to be a chondrichthyan, or an early member of the group of cartilaginous fish which includes sharks, skates, and rays today.
Wired Top Stories Brian Switek 2011
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According to the paper, the acanthodians have not been named yet but the chondrichthyan has been previously described as Obtusacanthus corroconis.
Wired Top Stories Brian Switek 2011
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The braincase of Acanthodes resembles those of early bony vertebrates, a lineage that includes humans and other land vertebrates (for this reason, acanthodians are thought to be more closely related to bony fishes than to sharks).
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