Actinopterygii (ray‐finned fishes) and E lasmobranchii (sharks, skates and rays) represent
more than half of today's vertebrate taxic diversity (approximately 33000 species) and form …

Chondrichthyan fishes are probably the most successful of all fishes if success is measured
in terms of historical endurance. Indeed, they have survived the mass extinctions of the last …

Traditional analyses of Early Phanerozoic marine diversity at the genus level show an
explosive radiation of marine life until the Late Ordovician, followed by a phase of erratic …

Examining the geological past of our planet allows us to study periods of severe climatic and
biological crises and recoveries, biotic and abiotic ecosystem fluctuations, and faunal and …

More than 99 per cent of the roughly 58,000 living vertebrate species have jaws. This major
clade, whose members are collectively known as gnathostomes ('jawed mouths'), made its …

Modern representatives of chondrichthyans (cartilaginous fishes) and osteichthyans (bony
fishes and tetrapods) have contrasting skeletal anatomies and developmental trajectories …

Although relationships among the major groups of living gnathostomes are well established,
the relatedness of early jawed vertebrates to modern clades is intensely debated. Here, we …

Abstract The Australian Mesozoic fish fauna is considered to be depauperate in comparison
with fish faunas in the Northern Hemisphere. However, due to its geographical location as a …

Anatomical knowledge of early chondrichthyans and estimates of their phylogeny are
improving, but many taxa are still known only from microremains. The nearly cosmopolitan …

Background Squaliform sharks represent approximately 27% of extant shark diversity,
comprising more than 130 species with a predominantly deep-dwelling lifestyle. Many …