| Flindersichthys Temporal range: | |
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| Genus: | †Flindersichthys |
| Species: | †F. denmeadi |
| Binomial name | |
| †Flindersichthys denmeadi Longman, 1932 | |
Flindersichthys is an extinct genus of prehistoric bony fish that lived during the Albian stage of the Early Cretaceous epoch. [1]
Flindersichthys was a large fish growing over 1.25 meters long and with an estimated body depth of over 30 centimeters. The holotype specimen, QMF2210, is a nearly complete skull found near the Flinders River, one mile east of Richmond, Queensland, in the sediments of the Toolebuc Formation. [2] Several other specimens are also known, mostly from the Toolebuc Formation, though some are from the Allaru and Normanton formations. [2] It is assigned to the Elopiformes order, but while it shares some features with megalopids it is considered incertae sedis below this level. [2] Judging from its dentition and the fact that the specimen QMF13720 has small, isolated vertebrae of a teleost fish in the mouth, Flindersichthys is believed to be a predator of smaller fish. [2] It also had a large jaw with an underbite, possibly allowing it to swallow small prey whole. [3]
Kronosaurus is an extinct genus of short-necked pliosaurs that lived during the Early Cretaceous period in what is now Australia. It is a monotypic genus with one species K. queenslandicus, described in 1924 from the Toolebuc Formation in Queensland, Australia. With traditionally attributed fossils indicating a total length of up to 10 meters (33 ft), Kronosaurus may have been among the largest pliosaurs.
Xiphactinus is an extinct genus of large predatory marine bony fish that lived during the late Albian to the late Maastrichtian. The genus grew up to 5–6 metres (16–20 ft) in length, and superficially resembled a gargantuan, fanged tarpon.
Thrissops is an extinct genus of stem-teleost fish from the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. Its fossils are known from the Solnhofen Limestone, as well as the Kimmeridge Clay.
Protosphyraena is a fossil genus of swordfish-like marine fish, that thrived worldwide during the Upper Cretaceous Period (Coniacian-Maastrichtian). Though fossil remains of this taxon have been found in both Europe and Asia, it is perhaps best known from the Smoky Hill Member of the Niobrara Chalk Formation of Kansas. Protosphyraena was a large fish, averaging 2–3 metres in length. Protosphyraena shared the Cretaceous oceans with aquatic reptiles, such as mosasaurs and plesiosaurs, as well as with many other species of extinct predatory fish. The name Protosphyraena is a combination of the Greek word protos ("early") plus Sphyraena, the genus name for barracuda, as paleontologists initially mistook Protosphyraena for an ancestral barracuda. Recent research shows that the genus Protosphyraena is not at all related to the true swordfish-family Xiphiidae, but belongs to the extinct family Pachycormidae.
Lycoptera is an extinct genus of fish that lived from Lower Cretaceous, Barremian to Aptian in present-day China, North Korea, Mongolia and Siberia. Although there is record from Jurassic Formation in Siberia, its age remains questionable. It is known from abundant fossils representing sixteen species, which serve as important index fossil used to date geologic formations in China. Along with the genus Peipiaosteus, Lycoptera has been considered a defining member of the Jehol Biota, a prehistoric ecosystem famous for its feathered dinosaurs, which flourished for 20 million years during the Early Cretaceous, where it occurs abundantly in often monospecific beds, where they are thought to have died in seasonal mass death events. Lycoptera is a crown group teleost belonging to an early diverging lineage of the Osteoglossomorpha, which contains living mooneyes, arapaima, arowana, elephantfish and knifefish/featherbacks.
Ichthyodectiformes is an extinct order of marine stem-teleost ray-finned fish. The order is named after the genus Ichthyodectes, established by Edward Drinker Cope in 1870. Ichthyodectiforms are usually considered to be some of the closest relatives of the teleost crown group.
Cratochelone is an extinct genus of sea turtle in the family Protostegidae and containing a single species Cratochelone berneyi. The species is known only from the mid to late Albian Toolebuc Formation, part of the rolling downs group, in the Hughenden of Central northern Queensland, Australia.
The Toolebuc Formation is a geological formation that extends from Queensland across South Australia and the Northern Territory in Australia, whose strata date back to the Albian stage of the Early Cretaceous. Dinosaurs, pterosaurs, plesiosaurs, ichthyosaurs, protostegid turtles, sharks, chimaeroids and bony fish remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation.
The Allaru Formation, also known as the Allaru Mudstone, is a geological formation in Queensland, Australia, whose strata date back to the Early Cretaceous. Dinosaur remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation.
Tharrhias is an extinct genus of prehistoric bony fish that lived during the Aptian stage of the Early Cretaceous epoch. The type species T. araripis is named after the Araripe Basin, in which it was found in sediments of the Santana Formation.
Dastilbe is an extinct genus of prehistoric bony fish from the Aptian.
Telepholis is an extinct genus of prehistoric bony fish that lived from the Cenomanian to Campanian.
Casierius is an extinct genus of prehistoric bony fish that lived during the Albian stage of the Early Cretaceous epoch. It is one of the oldest eels. The fossils of this animal were found in Glen Rose Formation near, Hood County, Texas.
Luisiella is an extinct genus of prehistoric bony fish that lived during the Kimmeridgian stage of the Late Jurassic epoch. Fossils of the genus have been found in either the Cañadón Calcáreo Formation or Cañadón Asfalto Formation in Chubut Province, Argentina.
Athrodon is an extinct genus of pycnodontid that lived in shallow seas in what is now England and France from the Late Jurassic until the genus' extinction during the start of the late Cretaceous. The various species are very similar in splenial bone and tooth morphology to Mesodon. Otherwise, no articulated or complete specimen is known: all fossil specimens are bone fragments and disarticulated teeth.
Cylindracanthus is an extinct genus of Cretaceous to Eocene aged ray-finned fish. It is almost exclusively known from bony rostrum fragments as well as some associated teeth, with the rest of the skeleton being cartilaginous. While originally considered to be closely related to billfish, the structure of its rostrum is dissimilar, and is unlikely to be closely related, some later studies suggested closer affinities to the Acipenseriformes. However, this was later rejected due to the lack of osteocytes in histologically examined specimens, which resembles the condition of derived teleosts. A close relation to Blochius has been suggested.
Pholidorhynchodon is an extinct genus of ray-finned fish that lived in the Triassic. Its fossils have been found in Italy, in the Zorzino Limestone Formation in Cene.
Pleuropholis is an extinct genus of prehistoric ray-finned fish.
Chuhsiungichthys is an extinct genus of ichthyodectiform ray-finned fish that lived in freshwater environments in what is now Yunnan, China, and Kyushu, Japan, during the Cretaceous. It differs from its sister genus, Mesoclupea, primarily by having a comparatively more anteriorly-placed dorsal fin.
The Bulldog Shale is a formation of Early Cretaceous age that forms part of the Marree Subgroup of the Rolling Downs Group, located in the Eromanga Basin of South Australia, Queensland and New South Wales.
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