Palaeorhincodon

History The discovery of Palaeorhincodon began around the 19th century, in 1974, with the paleontologist Herman, who described the fossil of a new genus of prehistoric whale shark, Palaeorhincodon, naming its type species, P. wardi, and based on the holotype IRSNB P05823, among other specimens, with paratypes. Previously, a species described from the genus Squatirhina, known as S. dartevellei, was also reclassified into the same genus as P. wardi. In 1997, a new previously undescribed species of this same genus, P. daouii, was named. Since then, Palaeorhincodon has been placed as a genus having only 3 known species. Undescrebried species Some fossils were attributed to Palaeorhincodon, many of them found in possible Upper Jurassic deposits and mainly from the Lower Eocene. == Ecology ==

Palaeorhicodon presumedly behaved similarly to extant whale sharks, feeding on plankton and larger pelagic animals like small crustaceans, fish and squid. ==References==