Crossopholis
Crossopholis Temporal range:
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Crossopholis magnicaudatus | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Actinopterygii |
Order: | Acipenseriformes |
Family: | Polyodontidae |
Genus: | †Crossopholis Cope, 1883[1] |
Type species | |
Crossopholis magnicaudatus |
Crossopholis is an extinct fish known from the early Eocene (Ypresian) of North America, approximately 52 million years ago. It is a close relative of the contemporary American paddlefish, belonging to the paddlefish family Polyodontidae.
History of discovery
First described by Edward Drinker Cope in 1883, the first specimen consisted of an incomplete section of the fish's body and tail. In 1886, a partial skull was recovered by Cope. A nearly complete fossil wasn't recorded until 1980. This was due, in part, to the comparative rarity of the fossil as well as the similarities to other species found within the site.
Classification
A member of the family
Relationships of recent and fossil paddlefish genera, after Grande et al. (2002).[5]
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Paleobiology
The fossils of this fish are found in the
Crossopholis was a predator, with fossil evidence of it consuming small schooling fish such as
References
- ^ "†Crossopholis Cope 1883". Paleobiology Database. Fossilworks. Retrieved 23 August 2016.
- ^ British Museum (Natural History). Dept. of Geology; Arthur Smith Woodward (1895). Catalogue of the Fossil Fishes in the British Museum (Natural History): Actinopterygian Teleostomi of the orders Chondrostei (concluded), Protospondyli, Aetheospondyli, and Isopondyli (in part). order of the Trustees.
- ISBN 978-1-4214-1201-6.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-226-92296-6.
- from the original on 16 July 2022. Retrieved 22 July 2022.