title: Labial cartilages in the smalltooth sandtiger shark, Odontaspis ferox (lamniformes: odontaspididae) and their significance to the phylogeny of lamniform sharks.
abstract: Using computed tomography, we discovered labial cartilages (splanchnocranial components) in an enigmatic lamniform shark, Odontaspis ferox (smalltooth sandtiger). We demonstrate that the presence of labial cartilages is plesiomorphic in Lamniformes, affirming that their "reduction" cannot be used as a synapomorphy for the order. Rather, their loss occurred through lamniform phylogeny.
authors.affiliation: Environmental Science Program, DePaul University, Chicago, Illinois 60614, USA. kshimada@depaul.edu
authors.forename: Kenshu
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Shimada
authors.forename: Cynthia K
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Rigsby
authors.forename: Sun H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002356:Cartilage / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D010802:Phylogeny; D012754:Sharks / Q000033:anatomy & histology*