Cimolichthys

Cimolichthys
Temporal range: 83.5–70.6 Ma Late Cretaceous
Cimolichthys nepaholica specimen, Denver museum.
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Phylum:
Class:
Order:
Rosen, 1973
Suborder:
Cimolichthyoidea
Family:
Cimolichthyidae
Genus:
Cimolichthys

Leidy, 1857
Species
  • C. anceps Cope, 1872
  • C. nepaholica Cope, 1872
  • C. gladiolus Cope, 1872
  • C. levesiensis Leidy, 1857
  • C. semianceps Cope, 1872
  • C. sulcatus Cope, 1872

Cimolichthys is an extinct genus of 1.5- to 2.0-meter-long nektonic predatory aulopiformid fish.

Description

Although the closest living relatives of Cimolichthys are lancetfish and lizardfish, the living animals would have resembled very large freshwater pikes. Their bodies were covered by large, heavy scutes. Typical of this species are narrow lower jaws with several series of teeth. Remains of undigested fishes or squids have been found in collected specimens. They lived in the Late Cretaceous period, from the Cenomanian age (99.6 ± 0.9 Mya and 93.5 ± 0.8 Mya) to the Maastrichtian age (70.6 ± 0.6 Mya to 66 Mya).

Distribution

Fossils of Cimolichthys are found in Cretaceous strata of North America (Canada and United States) and Europe.

Gallery



This page was last updated at 2024-02-24 09:54 UTC. Update now. View original page.

All our content comes from Wikipedia and under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.


Top

If mathematical, chemical, physical and other formulas are not displayed correctly on this page, please useFirefox or Safari