Meristodonoides

Meristodonoides is an extinct genus of hybodont. The type species is M. rajkovichi, which was originally a species in the genus Hybodus. The species, along with other Hybodus species such as H. butleri and H. montanensis, was reassigned to Meristodonoides by Charlie J. Underwood and Stephen L. Cumbaa in 2010. The species is primarily known from remains from the Cretaceous of North America, spanning from the Aptian/Albian to Maastrichtian, making it one of the last surviving hybodont genera, though records of the genus likely extend back as far as the Late Jurassic, based on an undescribed skeleton from the Tithonian of England, and fragmentary teeth from the Kimmeridgian of Poland, England and Switzerland. Other remains of the genus are known from the Coniacian of England, the Aptian-Albian of France, and the Campanian of European Russia. The morphology of the teeth suggests an adaptation to tearing prey. Fossils from the Western Interior Seaway suggest that it preferred nearshore marine environments, being absent from deeper-water areas, with it likely also being able to tolerate brackish and freshwater conditions.

Species

 * M. butleri (Thurmond, 1971), (Aptian/Albian, Texas)
 * M. montanensis (Case, 1978) (Campanian, Montana and Wyoming, with similar remains from the Santonian of New Mexico )
 * M. novojerseyensis (Case and Cappetta, 2004 ) (Maastrichtian, New Jersey)
 * M. rajkovichi (Case, 2001) (Cenomanian, Minnesota)
 * M. multiplicatus Cicimurri et al., 2014 (Santonian-Campanian, Mississippi)