Xiphactinus: Difference between revisions
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[[Image:XiphactinusDB.jpg|thumb|thumb|left|''Xiphactinus audax'' restoration]] |
[[Image:XiphactinusDB.jpg|thumb|thumb|left|''Xiphactinus audax'' restoration]] |
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[[Image:Fossil Xiphactinus audax.JPG|thumb|left|''Xiphactinus audax'' at the Muséum d'Histoire naturelle de Genève]] |
[[Image:Fossil Xiphactinus audax.JPG|thumb|left|''Xiphactinus audax'' at the Muséum d'Histoire naturelle de Genève]] |
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''Xiphactinus audax'' was a voracious predator fish. At least a dozen specimens have been collected with the remains of large, undigested or partially digested prey in their stomachs. In particular, [http://www.oceansofkansas.com/Sternbrg/xiphact2.jpg one {{convert|13|ft|m}} fossil specimen] was collected by [[George F. Sternberg]] with another, nearly perfectly preserved {{convert|6|ft|m}} long ichthyodectid ''[[Gillicus arcuatus]]'', inside of it. The larger fish apparently died soon after eating its prey, most likely due to the smaller fish prey struggling and rupturing an organ as it was being swallowed. This fossil can be seen at the Sternberg Museum of Natural History in Hays Kansas.<ref name="Xiphactinus audax Leidy"/> |
''Xiphactinus audax'' was a voracious predator fish. At least a dozen specimens have been collected with the remains of large, undigested or partially digested prey in their stomachs. In particular, [http://www.oceansofkansas.com/Sternbrg/xiphact2.jpg one {{convert|13|ft|m}} fossil specimen] was collected by [[George F. Sternberg]] with another, nearly perfectly preserved {{convert|6|ft|m}} long ichthyodectid ''[[Gillicus arcuatus]]'', inside of it. The larger fish apparently died soon after eating its prey, most likely due to the smaller fish prey struggling and rupturing an organ as it was being swallowed. This fossil can be seen at the Sternberg Museum of Natural History in Hays Kansas.<ref name="Xiphactinus audax Leidy"/> Another nearly complete adult specimen can be found at the [[Museum of World Treasures]] in Wichita, KS. |
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Like many other species in the Late Cretaceous oceans, a dead or injured ''X. audax'' was likely to be scavenged by sharks (''[[Cretoxyrhina]]'' and ''[[Squalicorax]]''). The remains of a ''Xiphactinus'' were found within a large specimen of [[Cretoxyrhina]] collected by Charles H. Sternberg. The specimen is on display at the University of Kansas Museum of Natural History. |
Like many other species in the Late Cretaceous oceans, a dead or injured ''X. audax'' was likely to be scavenged by sharks (''[[Cretoxyrhina]]'' and ''[[Squalicorax]]''). The remains of a ''Xiphactinus'' were found within a large specimen of [[Cretoxyrhina]] collected by Charles H. Sternberg. The specimen is on display at the University of Kansas Museum of Natural History. |
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Revision as of 20:41, 10 May 2010
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| Xiphactinus audax fossil in Cosmocaixa, Barcelona | |
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| Genus: | Xiphactinus Leidy, 1870
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Xiphactinus (from Latin and Greek for "sword-ray") was a large, 4.5 to 5 m (15 to 20 feet) long predatory bony fish that lived in the Western Interior Sea, over what is now the middle of North America, during the Late Cretaceous. When alive, the fish would have resembled a gargantuan, fanged tarpon (to which it was, however, not related).[3] The Portheus molossus described by Cope[3] is a junior synonym of the species. Skeletal remains of Xiphactinus have come from Kansas, Alabama, and Georgia in the United States, as well as Europe and Australia.
Palaeobiology
Xiphactinus audax was a voracious predator fish. At least a dozen specimens have been collected with the remains of large, undigested or partially digested prey in their stomachs. In particular, one 13 feet (4.0 m) fossil specimen was collected by George F. Sternberg with another, nearly perfectly preserved 6 feet (1.8 m) long ichthyodectid Gillicus arcuatus, inside of it. The larger fish apparently died soon after eating its prey, most likely due to the smaller fish prey struggling and rupturing an organ as it was being swallowed. This fossil can be seen at the Sternberg Museum of Natural History in Hays Kansas.[3] Another nearly complete adult specimen can be found at the Museum of World Treasures in Wichita, KS.
Like many other species in the Late Cretaceous oceans, a dead or injured X. audax was likely to be scavenged by sharks (Cretoxyrhina and Squalicorax). The remains of a Xiphactinus were found within a large specimen of Cretoxyrhina collected by Charles H. Sternberg. The specimen is on display at the University of Kansas Museum of Natural History.
Virtually nothing is known about their larval or juvenile stages. The smallest fossil specimen of X. audax consists of a tooth bearing premaxilla and lower jaws of an individual estimated to be about 12 inches (30 cm) long.[3]
The species and all other ichthyodectids went extinct near the end of the Late Cretaceous as the Western Interior Seaway began to recede from the middle of North America - see Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction event.
An incomplete skull of what may be a new species of Xiphactinus was found in 2002 in the Czech Republic, in a small town called Sachov next Borohradek city, by student Michal Matejka.
In popular culture
X. audax was one of the predators featured in the BBC's Sea Monsters, as well as National Geographic's Sea Monsters: A Prehistoric Adventure.
References
 | This article includes a list of references, related reading, or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. (April 2009) |
- ^ Sepkoski, Jack (2002). "A compendium of fossil marine animal genera". Bulletins of American Paleontology. 364: 560. Retrieved 2009-02-27.
- ^ Schwimmer, D. R., Stewart, J. D., & Williams, G.D. 1997 "Xiphactinus vetus and the Distribution of Xiphactinus Species in the Eastern United States" Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 17(3):610-615
- ^ a b c d Xiphactinus audax Leidy
Xiphactinus page - Oceans of Kansas
Bardack, D. 1965. Anatomy and evolution of Chirocentrid fishes. University of Kansas Paleontological Contributions, Article 10, 88 pp. 2 pl.
Cope, E. D. 1871. On the fossil reptiles and fishes of the Cretaceous rocks of Kansas. Art. 6, pp. 385–424 (no figs.) of Pt. 4, Special Reports, 4th Ann. Rpt., U.S. Geol. Surv. Terr. (Hayden), 511 p. (Cope describes and names Portheus molossus)
Cope, E. D. 1872a. On Kansas vertebrate fossils. American Journal of Science, Series 3, 3(13):65.
Cope, E. D. 1872b. On the geology and paleontology of the Cretaceous strata of Kansas. Preliminary Report of the United States Geological Survey of Montana and Portions of the Adjacent Territories, Part III - Paleontology, pp. 318–349.
Cope, E. D. 1872c. [Sketch of an expedition in the valley of the Smoky Hill River in Kansas]. Proc. Amer. Phil. Soc. 12(87):174-176.
Cope, E. D. 1872d. On the families of fishes of the Cretaceous formation in Kansas. Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 12(88):327-357.
Everhart, Michael J. 2005. Oceans of Kansas - A Natural History of the Western Interior Sea. Indiana University Press, 320 pp.
Hay, O. P. 1898. Observations on the genus of fossil fishes called by Professor Cope, Portheus, by Dr. Leidy, Xiphactinus. Zoological Bulletin 2(1): 25-54.
Hay, O. P. 1898. Observations on the genus of Cretaceous fishes called by Professor Cope Portheus. Science, 7(175):646. Hay noted, "Professor O. P. Hay made some 'Observations on the genus of Cretaceous Fishes, called by Professor Cope Portheus " discussing the osteology of the genus at some length and particularly the skull, shoulder girdle and vertebral column. He said that in many respects it resembled the Tarpon of our Southern coasts, although possessing widely different teeth, and undoubtedly belonged to the Isospondyli. The conclusion reached that Cope's Portheus is identical with the earlier described genus Xiphactinus of Leidy. (Since the paper was read, the author has learned that Professor Williston has reached the same conclusion.)"
Leidy, J. 1856. Notices on remains of extinct vertebrated animals of New Jersey, collected by Prof. Cook of the State Geological Survey under the Direction of Dr. W. Kitchell. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, 8:221. (printed in 1857 - Naming of Polygonodon vetus, a sister species of Xiphactinus audax, and Ischyrhiza mira Leidy)
Leidy, J. 1865. Cretaceous reptiles of the United States. Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge 14(6):1-135, pls. I-XX. (Three figures and a more detailed description of the tooth of Polygonodon (Xiphactinus) vetus Leidy 1856)
Leidy, J. 1870. [Remarks on ichthyodorulites and on certain fossil Mammalia.]. Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phil. 22:12-13. (The naming of Xiphactinus audax from a fragment of a pectoral fin found by Dr. George M. Sternberg (then an Army Surgeon serving in Kansas) in the chalk of western Kansas --- this paper pre-dates Cope's 1872 description of Portheus molossus by over a year).
Osborn, H. F. 1904. The great Cretaceous fish Portheus molossus Cope. Bull. Mus. Nat. Hist. Vol. 20, Art. 31, pp. 377–381, pl. 10. [AMNH 322199]
Rogers, K., 1991. A dinosaur dynasty: The Sternberg fossil hunters, Mountain Press Publishing Company, 288 pages.
Schwimmer, D. R., J. D. Stewart, and G. D. Williams. 1997. Xiphactinus vetus and the distribution of Xiphactinus species in the eastern United States. Journ. Vert. Paleo. 17(3):610-615.
Shimada, K. and M. J. Everhart. 2004. Shark-bitten Xiphactinus audax (Teleostei: Ichthyodectiformes) from the Niobrara Chalk (Upper Cretaceous) of Kansas. The Mosasaur 7, p. 35-39.
Sternberg, C. H. 1917. Hunting Dinosaurs in the Badlands of the Red Deer River, Alberta, Canada. Published by the author, San Diego, Calif., 261 pp.
Sternberg, C. H. 1922. Field work in Kansas and Texas. Kansas Academy of Science, Transactions 30(2):339-348.
Stewart, A. 1898. Individual variations in the genus Xiphactinus Leidy. Kansas Univ. Quar. 7(3):116-119, pl. VII, VIII, IX, X. Stewart placed a short note on page 116 acknowledging that Xiphactinus Leidy 1870 has priority over Portheus Cope 1872. "Xiphactinus audax Leidy (Proc. Acad. Sci. Phila., 1870, p. 12) has been shown to the a synonym of Saurocephalus Cope (U.S. Geol. Surv., Wyoming, etc. 1872, p. 418). In a letter to Prof. Mudge, dated October 28, 1870, which will shortly be published in the fourth volume of the Kansas University Geological Survey, Cope refers it to Saurocephalus thaumas (Portheus thaumas Cope). After carefully comparing the description and figure of the pectoral spine of X. audax I was led to the same conclusion; and as the genus Portheus was not made known by Cope until 1871 (Proc. Am. Phil. Soc., 1871, p. 173), according to the rules of nonclamature Xiphactinus should have priority."
Stewart, A. 1899. Notice of three new Cretaceous fishes, with remarks on the Saurodontidae Cope. Kansas Univ. Quar. 8(3):107-112. (Xiphactinus, Protosphyraena gigas and Empo (Cimolichthys))
Stewart, A. 1900. Teleosts of the Upper Cretaceous. The University Geological Survey of Kansas. Topeka 4:257-403, 6 figs., pls. 33-78.
Stovall, J. W. 1932. Xiphactinus audax, a fish from the Cretaceous of Texas. University of Texas Bulletin No. 3201:87-92, 1 pl.
Thorpe, M. R. 1934. A new mounted specimen of Portheus molossus Cope. American Journal of Science, 5th series, 28(164):121-126, 2 fig.
Walker, M.V. 1982. The Impossible Fossil. University Forum, Fort Hays State University 26: 4pp.
Walker, M.V. 2006. The impossible fossil - Revisited. Kansas Academy of Science, Transactions 109 (1/2), p. 87-96.
References
| This article includes a list of references, related reading, or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. (April 2009) |
External links
