Falcatus

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Falcatus
Live reconstruction of Falcatus falcatus

Live reconstruction of Falcatus falcatus

Temporal occurrence
Lower carbon
358.9 to 323.2 million years
Locations
Systematics
Class : Cartilaginous fish (Chondrichthyes)
Subclass : Euselachii
Subclass : Plate gill (Elasmobranchii)
Order : Symmoriida
Family : Falcatidae
Genre : Falcatus
Scientific name
Falcatus
Lund , 1985
species
  • Falcatus falcatus
  • Falcatus hamatus
  • Falcatus proclivus

Falcatus is an extinct genus of the plate gill from the group of the Symmoriida . Fossils date from the Lower Carboniferous of the United States . Falcatus is characterized by a showy, board-like shoulder spine that pointed forward over the animal's head. The type species is Falcatus falcatus and wasdescribedby Richard Lund in 1985; two other species are Falcatus hamatus and Falcatus proclivus .

features

Fossil falcatus falcatus -Männchen

They were predatory, small fish with a length of up to 14.5 cm. The eyes were large, the upper part of the snout tapered to a point. The caudal fin was forked. Striking was a long board-like shoulder spine, which had its origin deep in the shoulder muscles and ran forward like a sail over the head of the animal. This feature occurs only in sexually mature males, which can also be distinguished from females by the presence of clasps .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Richard Lund: The morphology of Falcatus falcatus (St. John and Worthen), a Mississippian stethacanthid chondrichthyan from the Bear Gulch Limestone of Montana. In: Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology , 1985
  2. ↑ Falcatus . In: The Paleobiology Database. Retrieved December 4, 2011 .
  3. ^ A b c Karl Albert Frickhinger: Fossil atlas, fishes . Mergus, Publ. For Natural History and Pet Books Baensch, Melle 1995, ISBN 3-88244-019-8 .
  4. ↑ a b Michael J. Benton: Paleontology of the vertebrates. 2007, ISBN 3-89937-072-4

Web links

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