216 Shark and Company 



AVES (Birds) MAMMALIA 



REPTILIA 



AMPHIBIA 



CHONDRICHTHYES (Cartilaginous fishes) OSTEICHTHYES (Bony fishes) 



PLACODERMI (Archaic, jawed fishes) 



AGNATHA (Jawless fishes) 



NON-VERTEBRATE CHORDATES 



From the Orders, one proceeds downward to the Sub-orders, the 

 Families, the Genera, and finally to the Species. The Tiger shark, for 

 instance, belongs to the sub-order Galeoida, the family Carcharhinidae, 

 the genus Galeocerdo, and ultimately gets the specific name Galeocerdo 

 cuvieri. 



Chondrichthyes include not only sharks and their own close rela- 

 tives, but also the curious Chimaeroids, sometimes called Ghost sharks. 

 These cousins of the sharks are believed to have evolved from a shark- 

 like ancestor. Their scientific name derives from the Greek mythologi- 

 cal monster Chimaera, which breathed fire, had the head of a goat, the 

 body of a lion, and the tail of a dragon. The Chimaeroids are not so fear- 

 some as all that, but those that are found today do look more like mythi- 



