Calamopleurus

Calamopleurus Temporal range: Late Hauterivian to Early Cenomanian PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Calamopleurus cylindricus
Reconstruction of Calamopleurus cylindricus
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Clade:	Halecomorphi
Order:	Amiiformes
Family:	Amiidae
Subfamily:	† Vidalamiinae
Genus:	† Calamopleurus Agassiz, 1841
Type species
Calamopleurus cylindricus Agassiz, 1841
Species
See text

Calamopleurus is a prehistoric genus of marine halecomorph ray-finned fish from the Early Cretaceous of South America and northern Africa. It was a relative of the modern bowfin, with both belonging to the family Amiidae. ^[1] C. cylindricus was among the largest known amiids, rivaling the giant Paleocene bowfin Amia pattersoni in size. However, both were slightly smaller than Melvius and Amia basiloides , the two largest known amiids. It is one of the earliest known amiids to evolve a large body size. ^[2]

Taxonomy

It is thought Calamopleurus is a sister genus to Maliamia , the last surviving member of the vidalamiines, which is the largely marine amiid group that also contained Calamopleurus. Both are placed in the tribe Calamopleurini. ^[3]

The genus contains three species: ^{[4] [5]}

• †C. africanusForey & Grande, 1998 - Late Albian/Early Cenomanian of Morocco and Algeria ^[6]
• †C. cylindricus Agassiz, 1841 - Late Aptian/Early Albian of Brazil (Crato and Santana Formations)
• †C. mawsoni Woodward, 1902- Late Hauterivian/Early Barremian of Brazil (Bahia Group)

Calamopleurus africanus

This species lived in siuthern Morocco and Algeria during the Cretaceous period in the late Albian and early Cenomanian epoches. It was described from fragmentary remains in the Kem kem beds. Osstified dermopterotic ribs were inferred from a loose association between the dermosphenotic and the roof of the skull. ^[7]

Cast of C. cylindricus with Vinctifer lodged in the pharynx.

Fossil of Calamopleurus eating Rhacolepis

References

• Paleontology portal

1. "PBDB Taxon". paleobiodb.org. Retrieved 2024-04-16.
2. Brownstein, Chase D.; Near, Thomas J. (2024). "A giant bowfin from a Paleocene hothouse ecosystem in North America". academic.oup.com. doi:10.1093/zoolinnean/zlae042/7659736 . Retrieved 2024-04-30.
3. "PBDB Taxon". paleobiodb.org. Retrieved 2024-04-16.
4. Peter L. Forey & Lance Grande (1998). "An African twin to the Brazilian Calamopleurus (Actinopterygii: Amiidae)". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society . 123 (2): 179–195. doi: 10.1111/j.1096-3642.1998.tb01299.x .
5. Brito, Paulo M.; Nava, William R.; Martinelli, Agustin G. (2017-09-01). "A New Fossil Amiidae (Holostei: Halecomorphi) from the Upper Cretaceous Adamantina Formation, Southeastern Brazil, with comments on western Gondwana amiids" . Cretaceous Research. 77: 39–43. Bibcode:2017CrRes..77...39B. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2017.04.018. ISSN   0195-6671.
6. Benyoucef, Madani; Läng, Emilie; Cavin, Lionel; Mebarki, Kaddour; Adaci, Mohammed; Bensalah, Mustapha (2015). "Overabundance of piscivorous dinosaurs (Theropoda: Spinosauridae) in the mid-Cretaceous of North Africa: The Algerian dilemma". Cretaceous Research. 55: 44–55. Bibcode:2015CrRes..55...44B. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2015.02.002. ISSN   0195-6671.
7. Peter L. Forey & Lance Grande (1998). "An African twin to the Brazilian Calamopleurus (Actinopterygii: Amiidae)". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society . 123 (2): 179–195. doi: 10.1111/j.1096-3642.1998.tb01299.x .