Echidnocephalus
| Echidnocephalus Temporal range:
Possible Coniacian and Maastrichtian occurrence
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|---|---|
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| Fossil of Echidnocephalus troscheli | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Notacanthiformes |
| Family: | Halosauridae |
| Genus: | †Echidnocephalus von der Marck, 1858 |
| Type species | |
| †Echidnocephalus troscheli von der Marck, 1858
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| Species[1] | |
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Echidnocephalus (Greek for "Echidna's head") is an extinct genus of prehistoric halosaur known from the Late Cretaceous. It is the earliest known definitive member of the order Notacanthiformes.[2]
It contains one definitive species known from complete and partial specimens: E. troscheli (=E. tenuicaudus von der Marck, 1858) from the late Campanian-aged Ahlen Formation of Westphalia, Germany.[3] These body fossils suggest an animal already very similar to modern halosaurs.[2]
In addition, two disputed species known only from isolated fossil scales very similar to those of modern halosaurs have been described from North America: ?E. americanus Cockerell, 1919 from the Coniacian-aged Mancos Shale of Wyoming and ?E. pacificus Cockerell, 1919 from the Maastrichtian-aged Moreno Formation of California.[4][5]
See also
[edit]
- Laytonia, a Miocene genus of fossil halosaur
- Prehistoric fish
- List of prehistoric bony fish
References
[edit]- ^ Behrensmeyer, A.K.; Turner, A. (2013). "†Echidnocephalus". PalaeoDB. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
- ^ a b Near, Thomas J.; Thacker, Christine E. (2024-04-18). "Phylogenetic Classification of Living and Fossil Ray-Finned Fishes (Actinopterygii)". Bulletin of the Peabody Museum of Natural History. 65 (1). doi:10.3374/014.065.0101. ISSN 0079-032X.
- ^ Sepkoski, Jack (2002). "A compendium of fossil marine animal genera". Bulletins of American Paleontology. 364: 560. Archived from the original on 2011-07-23. Retrieved 2009-02-27.
- ^ Professional Paper. U.S. Government Printing Office. 1919.
- ^ "PBDB Taxon". paleobiodb.org. Retrieved 2024-12-16.
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