Pirodus

Pirodus is an extinct genus of caseodontid eugeneodont from the Carboniferous of Russia. The genus includes a single species, P. conicus, which is known only from a single, incomplete fossil of its lower teeth. These teeth were fused together and sat along the midline of the jaw.^[1]

Pirodus Temporal range: Carboniferous Moscovian PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Chondrichthyes
Order:	†Eugeneodontiformes
Family:	†Caseodontidae
Genus:	†Pirodus
Species:	†P. conicus
Binomial name
†Pirodus conicus Lebedev, 2001

Discovery

The holotype specimen of Pirodus was described by researcher Oleg Lebedev in a 2001 paper, and originated from the Shchurovo-Korobcheyevo Formation of Moscow Oblast, Russia.^[1]

Description

Pirodus is known from a fragment of a tooth-whorl surrounded by dermal denticles. The tooth-whorl of this taxon consisted of a single fused base (or root) with multiple flattened, overlapping crowns protruding from it.^[1] The denticles of the taxon are large and conical, and may have been fused to the teeth.^[2]