栉棘鲨目的体型通常与现代鲨鱼没有太大的不同:身体较长,体型符合流体动力学,体长从几十厘米到几米不等(Maisey et al.,2017年)。栉棘鲨目拥有典型的鲨鱼形态:有两个背鳍,第一个背鳍位于胸鳍上方,第二个背鳍位于相对于腹鳍较后的位置,每个背鳍前面都有一根鳍刺,在某些情况下,鳍刺上有细锯齿状的纵向条纹或结节。这些背部的鳍刺深深地嵌入了栉棘鲨目的肌肉组织,并固定在支撑背鳍的三角形软骨上,这种软骨是现代鲨鱼的特征。栉棘鲨目的头骨标本较为稀缺。一般来说,栉棘鲨目的牙齿与裂口鲨属非常相似,但一些通常归类于栉棘鲨目的属(如窝鲨属、楔棘鲨属)则具有形态完全不同的牙齿。有些栉棘鲨类的身体结构非常特殊,例如吻部与身体一样长的长吻鲨属。
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