What is Orthacanthus?
{{Taxobox | name = ''Orthacanthus'' | fossil_range = Lower [[Carboniferous]] - [[Permian]] | image = | image_width = 250px | image_caption = ''[[Orthacanthus senckenbergianus]]'' | regnum = [[Animal]]ia | phylum = [[Chordate|Chordata]] | classis = [[Chondrichthyes]] | subclassis = [[Elasmobranchii]] | ordo = '''[[Xenacanthida]]''' | familia = '''Orthacanthidae''' | genus = '''''Orthacanthus''''' | genus_authority = Agassiz, 1843 | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivision = See text. }} '''''Orthacanthus''''' was an ancient [[Permian]] [[shark]] that had a long spine growing from the back of its skull. It had a very long dorsal fin, which ran all along the sharks back, giving it an [[eel]]-like appearance. ''Orthacanthus'' was an apex terror of freshwater swamps in prehistoric [[North America]]. Its body reached nearly 10 feet in length, and its powerful jaws were lined with double-fanged teeth. ''Orthacanthus'' lived from roughly 280 million years ago during the end of the Permian period. They were around before the [[dinosaur]]s evolved. This makes ''Orthacanthus'' one of the most famous predators of all time. Males and females were highly different, but no one really knows if males and females were ever present in the species ''Orthacanthus''. ''Orthacanthus'' may have been sometimes a cannibal, feasting on others of its kind. This is also shown in some animals of the present day. == Media == ''Orthacanthus'' has appeared inactive in a [[The Lost World|Lost World]] novel. It also appeared in a episode of the series [[Primeval]], where it was named as a species of shark from the future. [[Category:Extinct fish]] [[Category:Sharks]]