Janassa

Janassa is an extinct genus of cartilaginous fish. It lived in marine environments in what is now central United States of America and Europe during the Carboniferous and upper Permian. It is known from teeth and a few poorly preserved body fossils from Germany.

It was possibly related to the modern-day ratfish.

 Description 
According to the fossils, Janassa had a body plan very similar to that of the modern skate. However, Janassa was a petalodont, a kind of ancient cartilaginous fish related to chimaeras. Its teeth suggest it crushed and ate shellfish, such as brachiopods.

 Species 

 Janassa bituminosa Schlotheim, 1820 (type species)
 Janassa clavata M'Coy, 1855
 Janassa kochi Nielsen, 1932
 Janassa clarki Lund, 1989
 Janassa unguicula Eastman, 1903

 Type species 
The type species is Janassa bituminosa.

 Related pages 

 Parrotfish
 Belantsea

 References 

 Schaumberg, Günther (1977). "Die Richelsdorfer Kupferschiefer und seiner Fossilien, III". Aufschluss. 28: 297–352.

Category:Cartilaginous fish