Image: Ornithoprion

Description: Reconstruction of Ornithoprion hertwigi, with a head based on Zangerl (1966) and a body based on figures and descriptions in Zangerl (1981) and Mutter & Neuman (2008). Tooth whorl based on radiograph in Zangerl (1981). Non-whorl dentition is disarticulated in described specimens, but is interpreted by Zangerl (1966) in a configuration like that shown here (posterior bar-shaped pavement, anterior whorls). V-shaped teeth are not speculative, and are explicitly considered to form a midline row in the upper jaw by Zangerl. Both Zangerl (1966) and Mutter & Neuman (2008) describe the taxon as having either five or six gill arches, with Mutter & Neuman suggesting the sixth may have been vestigial in eugeneodonts. Five externally visible gill slits are used here a that is likely the most parsimonious. Large eye is based on the size of the socket and the preserved scleral rings described by Mutter & Neuman (2008) and Nielsen (1932) in Fadenia. Zangerl (1981) explicitly states that the shape of the body varies extremely little in Caseodontoidea, and the group is morphologically conserved. Body shape in this illustration is closely based on that of the caseodonts Romerodus orodontus, Fadenia crenulata and F. uroclasmato in accordance with this. Coloration is entirely speculative, but based loosely on Triakis semifasciata (leopard shark) and members of Scyliorhinidae (catsharks) because of inferred ecology. While solid brown or gray on top and light on the bottom would have been a "safer" bet, I don't think there is any policy against going for a more visually striking patterning even if speculative, and published eugeodont illustrations frequently opt to give them more varied patterning (works of Jesse Pruitt or Ray Troll in e.g. Tapanila et al., 2013; 2020).
Author: Gasmasque
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License: CC-BY-SA-3.0
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