Saurichthys

Saurichthys
Temporal range: Early Triassic-Mid Jurassic
~252.3–164.7 Ma
Saurichthys fossil
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Saurichthyiformes
Family: Saurichthyidae
Genus: Saurichthys
Agassiz, 1834
Species
  • More than 30 species
Synonyms

Ichthyorhynchus Bellotti, 1857[1]
Belonorhynchus Bronn, 1858[1]
Giffonus Costa, 1862[1]
Brevisaurichthys Beltan, 1972[2]
Systolichthys Beltan, 1972[2]

Saurichthys curionii fossil
Saurichthys seefeldensis attacking Preondactylus

Saurichthys ('lizard fish') is an extinct genus of ray-finned fish from the Triassic period. Fossils have been found on all continents except South America and Antarctica.[3] 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.[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.

Species

  • Saurichthys (Costasaurichthys) Tintori 2013
  • †Saurichthys (Costasaurichthys) costasquamosus Rieppel 1985
  • †Saurichthys (Costasaurichthys) paucitrichus Rieppel 1992
  • Saurichthys (Eosaurichthys) Liu and Wei 1988
  • †Saurichthys (Eosaurichthys) chaoi Liu and Wei 1988
  • †Saurichthys (Eosaurichthys) madagascariensis Piveteau 1945
  • Saurichthys (Lepidosaurichthys) Tintori 2013
  • †Saurichthys (Lepidosaurichthys) dayi Raymond 1925
  • †Saurichthys (Lepidosaurichthys) elongatus Stensiö 1925
  • †Saurichthys (Lepidosaurichthys) ornatus Stensiö 1925
  • †Saurichthys (Lepidosaurichthys) toxolepis Mutter et al. 2008
  • †Saurichthys (Lepidosaurichthys) wimani Woodward 1912
  • †Saurichthys aculeatus Henry 1876
  • †Saurichthys acuminatus Agassiz 1844
  • †Saurichthys apicalis Agassiz 1834
  • †Saurichthys breviabdominali [5]
  • †Saurichthys calcaratus Griffith 1977
  • †Saurichthys costatus Münster 1839
  • †Saurichthys curionii Bellotti 1857
  • †Saurichthys daubreei Firtion 1934
  • †Saurichthys dawaziensis Wu et al. 2009
  • †Saurichthys grignae Tintori 2013
  • †Saurichthys hamiltoni Stensiö 1925
  • †Saurichthys indicus de Koninck 1863
  • †Saurichthys krambergeri Schlosser 1918
  • †Saurichthys longidens Agassiz 1844
  • †Saurichthys macrocephalus Deecke 1889
  • †Saurichthys majiashanensis Tintori et al. 2014
  • †Saurichthys piveteaui Beltan 1968
  • †Saurichthys rieppeli [5]
  • †Saurichthys semicostatus Münster 1839
  • †Saurichthys stensioi Lehman 1952
  • †Saurichthys striatulus Henry 1876
  • †Saurichthys subulatus Henry 1876
  • †Saurichthys tenuirostris Münster 1839 [6]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Stensiö, E. (1925). "Triassic Fishes from Spitzebergen, Part II". Kungliga Svenska Vetenskapsakademiens Handlinga. 2: 1–126.
  2. 1 2 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. pp. 535–551.
  3. ↑ Saurichthys at Fossilworks.org
  4. ↑ Palmer, D., ed. (1999). The Marshall Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals. London: Marshall Editions. p. 36. ISBN 1-84028-152-9.
  5. 1 2 Discovery of two new species of primitive fishes
  6. ↑ Fossilworks: Saurichthys Agassiz 1843

Further reading

  • Romano, C., Kogan, I., Jenks, J., Jerjen, I. & Brinkmann, W. 2012. Saurichthys and other fossil fishes from the late Smithian (Early Triassic) of Bear Lake County (Idaho, USA), with a discussion of saurichthyid palaeogeography and evolution. Bulletin of Geosciences 87(3), 543–570.
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