Dracopristis (original) (raw)

Dracopristis (Hoffman's dragon shark) is a genus of extinct ctenacanthiform (spined fish) chondrichthyes (fish with cartilaginous skeletons) that lived around 307 million years ago, during the Pennsylvanian sub-period of the Carboniferous period. The fish had 12 rows of short, squat teeth, and an array of spines on its dorsal fins. Because it has features similar to reptiles and the fictional kaiju, the fish is often nicknamed the "dragon shark" or "Godzilla shark". The main differentiation between ctenacanthiformes and true sharks is that ctenacanthiform mouths are larger but less flexible than the true sharks. The spines of the holotype fossil are about 0.57 meters long, and the whole body was around 2 meters (6 ft) long.