Squalodontidae closely related to the South Asian river dolphin ("Platanista gangetica"). The genus "Squalodon" was named by French naturalist Jean-Pierre Sylvestre de Grateloup in 1840 based on a jaw fragment he thought belonged to a reptile. Fossils discovered later, nevertheless, showed that this was a toothed whale. In extant odontocetes, however, the dentition is atavistic with all teeth reduced to simple, undifferentiated conical shapes. In squalodonts the teeth resemble those of the archaic whales, Archaeoceti, with conical incisors anteriorly and low-crowned, serrated teeth posteriorly. Squalodontidae Squalodontidae or the shark-toothed dolphins is an extinct family of large toothed whales who had long
Endangered Species Act of 1973 endangered species. That meeting was held in Washington, D.C., in February, 1973 and produced the comprehensive multilateral treaty known as CITES or Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. President Richard Nixon declared current species conservation efforts to be inadequate and called on the 93rd United States Congress to pass comprehensive endangered species legislation. Congress responded with a completely rewritten law, the Endangered Species Act of 1973, which was signed by Nixon on December 28, 1973 (). It was written by a team of lawyers and scientists, including Dr. Russell E. Train, the first appointed