Paracestracion

Paracestracion
Holotype specimen of Paracestracion danieli
Paracestracion falcifer fossil from Solnhofen, Germany
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Chondrichthyes
Subclass: Elasmobranchii
Division: Selachii
Order: Heterodontiformes
Family: Paracestracionidae
Genus: Paracestracion
Koken in Zittel, 1911
Type species
Paracestracion falcifer
(Wagner, 1858)
Other species
  • P. bellis Underwood & Ward, 2004
  • P. danieli Slater, 2016
  • P. pectinatus Guinot et al., 2014
  • P. sarstedtensis (Thies, 1983)
  • P. viohli Kriwet, 2008
Synonyms
  • Cestracion falcifer Wagner, 1857
  • Heterodontus sarstedtensis Thies, 1983

Paracestracion is an extinct genus of heterodontiform sharks from Early Jurassic to Early Cretaceous-aged rocks of England, France, Germany and Luxembourg. The genus was first described in 1911 by Ernst Hermann Friedrich von Koken in Karl Alfred von Zittel.

The genus contains several Late Jurassic species known from well preserved full body remains, which show that it differs from the living bullhead sharks in the placement of the pelvic girdle and fins, as well as by having a shorter skull.