Basic info Taxonomic history Classification Included Taxa
Morphology Ecology and taphonomy External Literature Search Age range and collections

Scyliorhinus

Chondrichthyes - Carcharhiniformes - Scyliorhinidae

Taxonomy
Scyliorhinus was named by Blainville (1816) [Sepkoski's age data: ]. It is extant. It is the type genus of Scyliorhinidae, Scyliorhininae.

It was assigned to Scylliorhininae by Hay (1902); to Scylliorhinidae by Jordan (1963); to Carcharhiniformes by Sepkoski (2002); to Scyliorhininae by Noubhani and Cappetta (1997), Antunes and Balbino (2004); and to Scyliorhinidae by Regan (1908), Dartevelle and Casier (1943), Casier (1946), Casier (1966), Cappetta (1977), Case (1981), Thurmond and Jones (1981), Bendix-Almgreen (1983), Compagno (1984), Müller and Diedrich (1991), Halter (1995), Underwood and Mitchell (1999), Cappetta and Case (1999), Cappetta and Odin (2001), Cahuzac et al. (2007), Kocsis (2007), Underwood and Ward (2008), Guinot et al. (2013), Maisch et al. (2014), Villafaña et al. (2020), Soares and Mathubara (2022), Cicimurri et al. (2022), Feichtinger et al. (2024), Maisch IV et al. (2025).

Species
S. alaformis, S. antiquus, S. arambourgi, S. arlingtonensis, S. besnardi, S. biddlei, S. biformis, S. bloti, S. boa, S. brumarivulensis, S. cabindensis, S. cabofriensis, S. canicula (syn. Squalus catulus), S. capensis, S. cervigoni, S. comoroensis, S. coupatezi, S. distans, S. dubius, S. duhamelii, S. elongatus (syn. Scyllium tumidens), S. entomodon, S. fossilis (syn. Physodon ficheuri), S. garmani, S. hachijoensis, S. haeckelii, S. hesperius, S. ivagrantae, S. joleaudi, S. kasenoi, S. luypaertsi, S. meadi, S. minutissimus, S. monsaugustus, S. muelleri, S. ptychtus, S. retifer, S. reyndersi, S. stellaris, S. suelstorfensis, S. sulcidens, S. taylorensis, S. tensleepensis, S. tokubee, S. torazame, S. torrei, S. trifolius, S. ugoi, S. verloensis, S. weemsi, S. woodwardi
Species lacking formal opinion data
S. , S. ambiatlanticus, S. biauricalatus, S. gilbert, S. minutissumus, S. moosi
Entered
by J. Sepkoski on 2003-01-23; modified by J. Alroy on 2013-04-30

Synonyms
Synonymy list
YearName and author
1816Scyliorhinus Blainville p. 263
1837Catulus Smith p. 85
1902Scylliorhinus Hay p. 310
1908Scyliorhinus Regan p. 453
1943Scyliorhinus Dartevelle and Casier p. 100
1946Scyliorhinus Casier p. 54
1963Catulus Jordan p. 598
1963Scylliorhinus Jordan p. 598
1966Scyliorhinus Casier p. 65
1977Scyliorhinus Cappetta p. 968
1981Scyliorhinus Case p. 62
1981Scyliorhinus Thurmond and Jones p. 60
1983Scyliorhinus Bendix-Almgreen p. 2
1984Scyliorhinus Compagno
1991Scyliorhinus Müller and Diedrich p. 41
1995Scyliorhinus Halter p. 73
1997Scyliorhinus Noubhani and Cappetta p. 58
1999Scyliorhinus Cappetta and Case p. 30
1999Scyliorhinus Underwood and Mitchell
2001Scyliorhinus Cappetta and Odin p. 651
2002Scyliorhinus Sepkoski
2004Scyliorhinus Antunes and Balbino p. 77
2007Scyliorhinus Cahuzac et al. p. 25
2007Scyliorhinus Kocsis p. 35
2008Scyliorhinus Underwood and Ward p. 514
2013Scyliorhinus Guinot et al. p. 653
2014Scyliorhinus Maisch et al. p. 192
2020Scyliorhinus Villafaña et al.
2022Scyliorhinus Cicimurri et al.
2022Scyliorhinus Soares and Mathubara p. 767
2024Scyliorhinus Feichtinger et al. p. 18
2025Scyliorhinus Maisch IV et al. p. 18

Is something missing? Join the Paleobiology Database and enter the data

RankNameAuthor
kingdomAnimalia()
—Bilateria
—EubilateriaAx 1987
—Deuterostomia
phylumChordataHaeckel 1874
subphylumVertebrata
superclassGnathostomata
classChondrichthyes
RankNameAuthor
infraclassElasmobranchii(Bonaparte 1838)
—Euselachii()
—NeoselachiiCompagno 1977
superorderGaleomorphiiCompagno 1973
orderCarcharhiniformesCompagno 1973
suborderScyliorhinoideiBerg 1940
familyScyliorhinidaeGill 1862
genusScyliorhinusBlainville 1816

If no rank is listed, the taxon is considered an unranked clade in modern classifications. Ranks may be repeated or presented in the wrong order because authors working on different parts of the classification may disagree about how to rank taxa.

G. Scyliorhinus Blainville 1816
show all | hide all
†Scyliorhinus alaformis Feichtinger et al. 2024
†Scyliorhinus antiquus Agassiz 1843
†Scyliorhinus arambourgi Cappetta 1980
†Scyliorhinus arlingtonensis Cappetta and Case 1999
Scyliorhinus besnardi Springer and Sadowsky 1970 [polkadot catshark]
†Scyliorhinus biddlei Halter 1995
†Scyliorhinus biformis Reinecke 2014
†Scyliorhinus bloti Cappetta 1980
Scyliorhinus boa Goode and Bean 1896 [boa catshark]
†Scyliorhinus brumarivulensis Underwood and Ward 2008
†Scyliorhinus cabindensis Leriche 1927
Scyliorhinus cabofriensis Soares et al. 2016
Scyliorhinus canicula Linnaeus 1758 [lesser spotted dogfish]
+
Invalid names: Squalus catulus Linnaeus 1758 [synonym]
Scyliorhinus capensis Müller and Henle 1839 [yellowspotted catshark]
Scyliorhinus cervigoni Maurin and Bonnet 1970 [West African catshark]
Scyliorhinus comoroensis Compagno 1988 [Comoro cat shark]
†Scyliorhinus coupatezi Herman 1974
†Scyliorhinus distans Probst 1879
†Scyliorhinus dubius Woodward 1889
Scyliorhinus duhamelii Garman 1913 [Duhamel's catshark]
†Scyliorhinus elongatus Davis 1887
+
Invalid names: Scyllium tumidens Woodward 1889 [synonym]
†Scyliorhinus entomodon Noubhani and Cappetta 1997
†Scyliorhinus fossilis Leriche 1927
+
Invalid names: Physodon ficheuri Joleaud 1912 [synonym]
Scyliorhinus garmani Fowler 1934 [brownspotted catshark]
Scyliorhinus hachijoensis Ito et al. 2022 [cinder cloudy catshark]
Scyliorhinus haeckelii Miranda Ribeiro 1907 [freckled catshark]
Scyliorhinus hesperius Springer 1966 [whitesaddled catshark]
†Scyliorhinus ivagrantae Case and Cappetta 1997
†Scyliorhinus joleaudi Cappetta 1970
†Scyliorhinus kasenoi Karasawa 1989
†Scyliorhinus luypaertsi Halter 1995
Scyliorhinus meadi Springer 1966 [blotched catshark]
†Scyliorhinus minutissimus Winkler 1873
†Scyliorhinus monsaugustus Guinot et al. 2013
†Scyliorhinus muelleri Guinot et al. 2013
†Scyliorhinus ptychtus Noubhani and Cappetta 1997
Scyliorhinus retifer Garman 1881 [chain catshark]
†Scyliorhinus reyndersi Halter 1995
Scyliorhinus stellaris Linnaeus 1758 [nursehound]
†Scyliorhinus suelstorfensis Reinecke 2014
†Scyliorhinus sulcidens Noubhani and Cappetta 1997
†Scyliorhinus taylorensis Cappetta and Case 1999
Scyliorhinus tokubee Shirai et al. 1992 [Izu catshark]
Scyliorhinus torazame Tanaka 1908 [cloudy catshark]
Scyliorhinus torrei Howell Rivero 1936 [dwarf catshark]
†Scyliorhinus trifolius Adnet 2006
Scyliorhinus ugoi Soares et al. 2015 [dark freckled catshark]
†Scyliorhinus verloensis Weiler 1943
†Scyliorhinus weemsi Cicimurri et al. 2022
†Scyliorhinus woodwardi Cappetta 1976
Invalid names: Catulus Smith 1837 [synonym]
Diagnosis
No diagnoses are available
Measurements
No measurements are available
Composition: phosphaticsubp
Environment: marinesubp
Locomotion: actively mobileo
Life habit: nektonico
Diet: carnivoreo
Created: 2009-07-21 06:53:24
Modified: 2009-07-21 08:53:24
Source: o = order, subp = subphylum
References: Wagner 2023, Carroll 1988, Hendy et al. 2009

Age range

Maximum range based only on fossils: base of the Valanginian to the top of the Late/Upper Pliocene or 137.05000 to 2.58000 Ma
Minimum age of oldest fossil (stem group age): 132.6 Ma

Collections (196 total)

Oldest occurrences

Time interval Ma Country or state Original ID and collection number
Valanginian137.05 - 132.6France S. sp. (214859)
Early/Lower Hauterivian132.6 - 125.77Germany S. sp. (241413) Scyllium tumidens (91586)
Early/Lower Aptian121.4 - 119.57United Kingdom (England) S. muelleri (241457)
Late/Upper Albian106.3 - 100.5United Kingdom (England) S. dubius (213330)
Early/Lower Cenomanian100.5 - 93.9USA (Texas) S. arlingtonensis (213297)
Early/Lower Cenomanian100.5 - 93.9Germany S. dubius, S. antiquus (210063)
Early/Lower Cenomanian100.5 - 93.9United Kingdom (England) S. sp., S. dubius (213567)
Late/Upper Cenomanian100.5 - 93.9Lebanon S. arambourgi (213132) S. bloti (69118)
Late/Upper Cenomanian100.5 - 93.9France S. elongatus (241896)
Middle Cenomanian100.5 - 93.9United Kingdom (England) S. dubius (213365)
Cenomanian - Coniacian100.5 - 85.7Germany S. bloti (235323)
Early/Lower Turonian93.9 - 89.8USA (Kansas) S. arlingtonensis (213384)
Late/Upper Turonian93.9 - 89.8Germany S. elongatus (276362)
Middle Turonian93.9 - 89.8France (Ardennes) S. antiquus, S. muelleri (213564)
Middle Turonian93.9 - 89.8USA (Kansas) S. sp. (35365)
Middle Turonian93.9 - 89.8France S. elongatus (241894)
Coniacian89.8 - 85.7United Kingdom (Northern Ireland) S. dubius, S. brumarivulensis (213383)
Late/Upper Santonian85.7 - 83.6Lebanon S. elongatus (92241 242393) Thyellina elongata (170327)
Late/Upper Santonian85.7 - 83.6United Kingdom (England) S. elongatus, S. brumarivulensis (213377 213381)
Late/Upper Santonian85.7 - 83.6Germany S. elongatus (177609)