The extensive chondrichthyan fossil record spans 400+ million years and has a global
distribution. Paleontological studies provide a foundation of description and taxonomy to …

The evolution of the jaw represents a key innovation in driving the diversification of
vertebrate body plans and behavior. The pharyngeal apparatus originated as gill bars …

The Palaeozoic record of chondrichthyans (sharks, rays, chimaeras, extinct relatives) and
thus our knowledge of their anatomy and functional morphology is poor because of their …

Environmental controls of species diversity represent a central research focus in
evolutionary biology. In the marine realm, sharks are widely distributed, occupying mainly …

Chondrichthyans have a long evolutionary history, reaching back over 450 million years.
Despite the longevity of the chondrichthyan fossil record, it is remarkably incomplete. This …

The Carboniferous (358.9 to 298.9 Ma) saw the emergence of marine ecosystems
dominated by modern vertebrate groups, including abundant stem-group holocephalans …

Fishes, and elasmobranchs in particular, are often described as “opportunistic” predators
meaning that they will take advantage of feeding opportunities as they arise. The implication …

The cranial diversity of sharks reflects disparate biomechanical adaptations to feeding. In
order to be able to investigate and better understand the ecomorphology of extant shark …

1. General Trophic Morphology 1.1. Skeletal Apparatus 1.2. Feeding Musculature 1.3. Jaw
Suspension Mechanisms 1.4. Dentition 2. Feeding Behaviors 3. Biomechanical Models for …

1. Introduction 2. Systematic and Phylogenetic Framework of Chondrichthyan Diversity 2.1.
Names, Taxa, and Characters 2.2. Chondrichthyan Diversity and Interrelationships 3 …