Cyclurus

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Cyclurus
Temporal range: Maastrichtian to Rupelian
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C
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Possible Campanian occurrence
Cyclurus kehreri 001.jpg
Fossil of C. kehreri
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Clade: Halecomorphi
Order: Amiiformes
Family: Amiidae
Subfamily: Amiinae
Genus: Cyclurus
Agassiz, 1844
Type species
Cyclurus valenciennesi
Agassiz, 1844
Species

See text

Synonyms

Cyclurus (Ancient Greek for "rounded tail") is an extinct genus of freshwater amiid ray-finned fish known from the Late Cretaceous to the Early Oligocene across much of the Northern Hemisphere. [1] It is thought to be the closest relative of the extant bowfins in the genus Amia , although species of Cyclurus were significantly smaller in size compared to Amia. [2]

Contents

Evolution

Remains of Cyclurus are first known from western North America during the Maastrichtian stage of the Cretaceous with the species C. fragosus, with the genus having presumably diverged from Amia shortly before. Potential earlier remains are known from the Campanian. [1] [2] Alongside Amia, Cyclurus survived the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event in a refugium in western North America. [2] Shortly afterwards, it saw a dramatic range expansion over the Paleogene, colonizing Europe and Asia by the Late Paleocene and becoming particularly successful and speciose in Europe. By the Late Eocene, it was one of the last two surviving halecomorph genera, alongside Amia. However, alongside most Amia species aside from those in eastern North America, it became extinct during the Oligocene. [2] [3]

Taxonomy

The following species are known: [3]

The species †C. "lacus" (Russell, 1928) (=†Stylomyleodon lacusRussell, 1928) from the middle Paleocene of Alberta, †C. "chinzhalensis" (Sytchevskaya, 1986) (=†Amia chinzhalensisSytchevskaya, 1986) from the mid-late Eocene of Kazakhstan, and †C. "russelli" (Janot, 1966) (=†"Amia" russelliJanot, 1966) from the late Paleocene of France are considered nomina dubia due to insufficiently diagnostic remains. The Geiseltal specimens of C. kehreri differ morphologically from the Messel ones, and may represent a distinct species. [3] Indeterminate Cyclurus remains are known from the middle Eocene of Jilin, China, the late Paleocene Ravenscrag Formation of Saskatchewan & the Maastrichtian Horseshoe Canyon Formation of Alberta, Canada, and possibly the Campanian-aged Aguja Formation of Texas, USA. [8] [9] [10] [11]

Paleoecology

Fossils of C. kehreri are abundant in the Messel Formation Cyclurus kehreri 5676.jpg
Fossils of C. kehreri are abundant in the Messel Formation

C. kehreri is the most common fossil fish known from the Messel pit, and in fact the most abundant fossil amiid in the world, with thousands of specimens recovered. Fossils of C. kehreri are known representing different growth stages. Almost no specimens of C. kehreri are known with fish bones in their stomach (a specimen with percoid bones in its stomach is thought to have likely scavenged on them), suggesting that unlike other amiids, Cyclurus likely fed on small invertebrates instead of other fish. Contrasting with C. kehreri's abundance, C. gurleyi is one of the rarest fishes from the Green River Formation, with only 8 specimens known from the hundreds of thousands of fossil fishes excavated. [3]

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References

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  3. 1 2 3 4 Grande, Lance; Bemis, William E. (1998-04-10). "A Comprehensive Phylogenetic Study of Amiid Fishes (Amiidae) Based on Comparative Skeletal Anatomy. an Empirical Search for Interconnected Patterns of Natural History". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 18 (sup1): 1–696. doi:10.1080/02724634.1998.10011114. ISSN   0272-4634.
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  6. Hoganson, John W.; Erickson, J. Mark; Holland Jr., F. D. (2019). "CHONDRICHTHYAN AND OSTEICHTHYAN PALEOFAUNAS FROM THE CRETACEOUS (LATE MAASTRICHTIAN) FOX HILLS FORMATION OF NORTH DAKOTA, USA: PALEOECOLOGY, PALEOGEOGRAPHY, AND EXTINCTION" (PDF). Bulletins of American Paleontology. 398. doi:10.32857/bap.2019.398.
  7. CHANG Mee-Mann, WANG Ning (2010-06-15). "DISCOVERY OF ?CYCLURUS (AMIINAE, AMIIDAE, AMIIFORMES, PISCES) FROM CHINA". Vertebrata Palasiatica. 48 (2): 85. ISSN   2096-9899.
  8. Gaudant, Jean; Schaal, Stephan F. K.; Wei, Sun (2012-12-01). "A short account on the Eocene fish fauna from Huadian (Jilin Province, China)". Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments. 92 (4): 417–423. doi:10.1007/s12549-012-0094-4. ISSN   1867-1608.
  9. Sinha, Sinjini; Brinkman, Donald B.; Murray, Alison M.; Krause, David W. (2021-05-04). "Late Paleocene fishes of the Ravenscrag Formation, Roche Percée area, southeastern Saskatchewan, Canada". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 41 (3). doi:10.1080/02724634.2021.1957907. ISSN   0272-4634.
  10. Larson, Derek W.; Brinkman, Donald B.; Bell, Phil R. (2010). Sues, Hans-Deiter (ed.). "Faunal assemblages from the upper Horseshoe Canyon Formation, an early Maastrichtian cool-climate assemblage from Alberta, with special reference to the Albertosaurus sarcophagus bonebedThis article is one of a series of papers published in this Special Issue on the theme Albertosaurus ". Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences. 47 (9): 1159–1181. doi:10.1139/E10-005. ISSN   0008-4077.
  11. Wick, Steven L.; Brink, Alyson A. (2022-11-01). "A new non-marine osteichthyan fauna from the Upper Cretaceous (Campanian) of West Texas: Additional evidence for latitudinal segregation among bony fish in the Western Interior". Cretaceous Research. 139: 105299. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2022.105299. ISSN   0195-6671.