Saurichthys
| Saurichthys Temporal range: Early Triassic–Middle Triassic |
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| Saurichthys fossil | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Saurichthyiformes |
| Family: | Saurichthyidae |
| Genus: | Saurichthys Agassiz, 1834 |
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| Synonyms | |
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Ichthyorhynchus Bellotti, 1857[1] |
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Saurichthys ('lizard fish') is an extinct genus of ray-finned fish from the Triassic period. Fossils have been found worldwide.
Saurichthys was an elongated, streamlined, fish about 1 metre (3.3 ft) long, and looked similar to the modern pike. Its dorsal and anal fins were placed opposite each other well back on the body, and the tail was symmetrical. These features would have made it a powerful swimmer, and it is presumed to have hunted in a similar way to the pike, attacking from an ambush at high speed. Its jaws were extremely long, making up a third of the total body length, and ended in a sharp, beak-like tip.[3][4]
Fossil evidence, in the form of a bolus of bones in the same strata, indicates that Saurichthys attacked, or possibly scavenged the corpses of fishing pterosaurs such as Preondactylus.
Their closest modern-day relatives include the sturgeons, paddlefish, and the bowfins.
[edit] References
- ^ a b c Stensiö, E. (1925). "Triassic Fishes from Spitzebergen, Part II". Kungliga Svenska Vetenskapsakademiens Handlinga 2: 1–126.
- ^ a b Cartanyà, J., ed. (1999). An overview of the Middle Triassic actinopterygians from Alcover, Mont-ral and El Pinetell (Catalonia, Spain). In: G. Arratia and H. P. Schultze (eds.) Mesozoic Fishes 2—Systematics and Fossil Record: Verlag Dr. F. Pfeil, München. p. 535–551.
- ^ Saurichthys article, featuring swimming and behaviour on prehistoric-wildlife.com
- ^ Palmer, D., ed. (1999). The Marshall Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals. London: Marshall Editions. p. 36. ISBN 1-84028-152-9.
[edit] External links
- Saurichthys species information on paleodb.org.
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