The first articulated skeletons of enigmatic Late Cretaceous billfish-like actinopterygians
Only few candidates of Mesozoic fishes with a similar body plan and ecological niche to the modern billfishes are suggested as their analogues. Several specimens were recovered from Cenomanian deposits in Germany and Lebanon and display a billfish-like fusiform body with elongated premaxillae. They...
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The Royal Society
2023-12-01
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| Series: | Royal Society Open Science |
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| Online Access: | https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.231296 |
| _version_ | 1797361023153340416 |
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| author | Tamara El Hossny Lionel Cavin Ulrich Kaplan Achim H. Schwermann Elias Samankassou Matt Friedman |
| author_facet | Tamara El Hossny Lionel Cavin Ulrich Kaplan Achim H. Schwermann Elias Samankassou Matt Friedman |
| author_sort | Tamara El Hossny |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Only few candidates of Mesozoic fishes with a similar body plan and ecological niche to the modern billfishes are suggested as their analogues. Several specimens were recovered from Cenomanian deposits in Germany and Lebanon and display a billfish-like fusiform body with elongated premaxillae. They are found close to the plethodids and show a unique combination of characters (rostrum pointed and extremely elongated, double articular head of the quadrate, anteroposteriorly elongated abdominal centra indicating a slender body and different types of scales on the body) allowing their inclusion in a new genus. Two ‘Protosphyraena’ species are also assigned to this new genus. This fish can be considered as an ecological analogue to the extant xiphioids sharing their feeding habits. This fish was abundant and roamed, as an apex predator, the Central Tethys and the Boreal realms during the Cenomanian. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T15:48:01Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-b0195a469eee4516a8735ea90cc44d0a |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2054-5703 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T15:48:01Z |
| publishDate | 2023-12-01 |
| publisher | The Royal Society |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Royal Society Open Science |
| spelling | doaj.art-b0195a469eee4516a8735ea90cc44d0a2024-01-09T09:59:12ZengThe Royal SocietyRoyal Society Open Science2054-57032023-12-01101210.1098/rsos.231296The first articulated skeletons of enigmatic Late Cretaceous billfish-like actinopterygiansTamara El Hossny0Lionel Cavin1Ulrich Kaplan2Achim H. Schwermann3Elias Samankassou4Matt Friedman5Department of Earth Sciences, University of Geneva, Rue des Maraîchers 13, 1205 Geneva, SwitzerlandDépartement de Géologie et de Paléontologie, Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle de la Ville de Genève, CP 6434, 1211 Geneva 6, SwitzerlandEichenallee 141, 33332 Gütersloh, GermanyLWL-Museum für Naturkunde Westfälisches Landesmuseum mit Planetarium, Sentruper Strasse 285, 48161 Münster, GermanyDepartment of Earth Sciences, University of Geneva, Rue des Maraîchers 13, 1205 Geneva, SwitzerlandMuseum of Paleontology and Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USAOnly few candidates of Mesozoic fishes with a similar body plan and ecological niche to the modern billfishes are suggested as their analogues. Several specimens were recovered from Cenomanian deposits in Germany and Lebanon and display a billfish-like fusiform body with elongated premaxillae. They are found close to the plethodids and show a unique combination of characters (rostrum pointed and extremely elongated, double articular head of the quadrate, anteroposteriorly elongated abdominal centra indicating a slender body and different types of scales on the body) allowing their inclusion in a new genus. Two ‘Protosphyraena’ species are also assigned to this new genus. This fish can be considered as an ecological analogue to the extant xiphioids sharing their feeding habits. This fish was abundant and roamed, as an apex predator, the Central Tethys and the Boreal realms during the Cenomanian.https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.231296ecological analogueCenomanianbillfishesProtosphyraenaPlethodidaeRhamphoichthys taxidiotis |
| spellingShingle | Tamara El Hossny Lionel Cavin Ulrich Kaplan Achim H. Schwermann Elias Samankassou Matt Friedman The first articulated skeletons of enigmatic Late Cretaceous billfish-like actinopterygians Royal Society Open Science ecological analogue Cenomanian billfishes Protosphyraena Plethodidae Rhamphoichthys taxidiotis |
| title | The first articulated skeletons of enigmatic Late Cretaceous billfish-like actinopterygians |
| title_full | The first articulated skeletons of enigmatic Late Cretaceous billfish-like actinopterygians |
| title_fullStr | The first articulated skeletons of enigmatic Late Cretaceous billfish-like actinopterygians |
| title_full_unstemmed | The first articulated skeletons of enigmatic Late Cretaceous billfish-like actinopterygians |
| title_short | The first articulated skeletons of enigmatic Late Cretaceous billfish-like actinopterygians |
| title_sort | first articulated skeletons of enigmatic late cretaceous billfish like actinopterygians |
| topic | ecological analogue Cenomanian billfishes Protosphyraena Plethodidae Rhamphoichthys taxidiotis |
| url | https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.231296 |
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