Leptostyrax

Last updated

Leptostyrax
Temporal range: Barremian-Campanian
Leptostyrax.jpg
Leptostyrax macrorhiza
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Chondrichthyes
Subclass: Elasmobranchii
Subdivision: Selachimorpha
Order: Lamniformes
Family: Pseudoscapanorhynchidae
Genus: Leptostyrax
Williston, 1900 [1]
Type species
Leptostyrax macrorhiza
(Cope, 1875) [2]
Other species
  • Leptostyrax stychi
    Schmitz, Thies, & Kriwet, 2010 [3]
Synonyms
Genus synonymy
    • Macrorhizodon
      Sokolov, 1965 [4]
    • Megarhizodon
      Sokolov, 1978 [5]
Species synonymy
  • L. macrorhiza
      • Lamna macrorhiza
        Cope, 1875
      • Leptostyrax bicuspidatus
        Williston, 1900
      • Megarhizodon priscus
        Sokolov, 1978

Leptostyrax is an extinct genus of mackerel sharks that lived during the Cretaceous. It contains two valid species, L. macrorhiza and L. stychi, found in North America, Europe, Africa, and Australia. [3]

Contents

Vertebrae tentatively assigned to L. macrorhiza suggest lengths of 6.3–8.3 m (21–27 ft), making it one of the largest Cretaceous sharks. [6]

Diet

Leptostyrax was a carnivorous large shark in the family Pseudoscapanorhynchidae that existed in Australia. It's diet presumably consisted on fish and any other animals it could snatch and eat, such as other sharks and bony fish.

Distribution

Leptostyrax was mostly cold blooded just like other shark species, mostly in wide oceans and shallow waters or either freshwater areas close to the mainland.

Characteristics

Leptostyrax was a shark and had gills just like other shark species, with females growing alot larger than male specimens.


Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lamniformes</span> Order of sharks

The Lamniformes are an order of sharks commonly known as mackerel sharks. It includes some of the most familiar species of sharks, such as the great white, as well as less familiar ones, such as the goblin shark and megamouth shark.

<i>Cretoxyrhina</i> Extinct genus of shark

Cretoxyrhina is an extinct genus of large mackerel shark that lived about 107 to 73 million years ago during the late Albian to late Campanian of the Late Cretaceous. The type species, C. mantelli, is more commonly referred to as the Ginsu shark, first popularized in reference to the Ginsu knife, as its theoretical feeding mechanism is often compared with the "slicing and dicing" when one uses the knife. Cretoxyrhina is traditionally classified as the likely sole member of the family Cretoxyrhinidae but other taxonomic placements have been proposed, such as within the Alopiidae and Lamnidae.

<i>Enchodus</i> Genus of fishes (fossil)

Enchodus is an extinct genus of aulopiform ray-finned fish related to lancetfish and lizardfish. Species of Enchodus flourished during the Late Cretaceous, and there is some evidence that they may have survived to the Paleocene or Eocene; however, this may just represent reworked Cretaceous material.

Eonatator is an extinct genus of marine lizard belonging to the mosasaur family. It is a close relative of Halisaurus, and part of the same subfamily, the Halisaurinae. It is known from the Late Cretaceous of North America, Colombia and Sweden. Originally, this taxon was included within Halisaurus, but was placed in its own genus, which also led to the subfamily Halisaurinae being created for the two genera.

<i>Edaphodon</i> Extinct genus of cartilaginous fishes

Edaphodon was a fish genus of the family Callorhinchidae. As a member of the Chimaeriformes, Edaphodon was a type of rabbitfish, a cartilaginous fish related to sharks and rays. The genus appeared in the Aptian age of the Lower Cretaceous and vanished in the Pliocene. It was most prominent during the Late Cretaceous. Many Edaphodon species were found in the Northern Hemisphere, but species from the Southern Hemisphere are also known.

<i>Ceratodus</i> Extinct genus of fishes

Ceratodus is an extinct genus of lungfish. It has been described as a "catch all", and a "form genus" used to refer to the remains of a variety of lungfish belonging to the extinct family Ceratodontidae. Fossil evidence dates back to the Early Triassic. A wide range of fossil species from different time periods have been found around the world in places such as the United States, Argentina, Greenland, England, Germany, Egypt, Madagascar, China, and Australia. Ceratodus is believed to have become extinct sometime around the beginning of the Eocene Epoch.

<i>Ptychodus</i> Extinct genus of sharks

Ptychodus is a genus of extinct large durophagous (shell-crushing) lamniform sharks from the Cretaceous period, spanning from the Albian to the Campanian. Fossils of Ptychodus teeth are found in many Late Cretaceous marine sediments worldwide.

<i>Anomoeodus</i> Extinct genus of fishes

Anomoeodus is an extinct genus of prehistoric marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Pycnodontidae. This genus primarily lived during the mid-to-late Cretaceous period, ranging from the Albian to the very end of the Maastrichtian age, and possibly into the Danian. The first fossils of Anomoeodus were described by Louis Agassiz in 1833, although they were described under Pycnodus. Some studies have recovered it as a wastebasket taxon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paleobiota of the Niobrara Formation</span>

During the time of the deposition of the Niobrara Chalk, much life inhabited the seas of the Western Interior Seaway. By this time in the Late Cretaceous many new lifeforms appeared such as mosasaurs, which were to be some of the last of the aquatic lifeforms to evolve before the end of the Mesozoic. Life of the Niobrara Chalk is comparable to that of the Dakota Formation, although the Dakota Formation, which was deposited during the Cenomanian, predates the chalk by about 10 million years.

<i>Livyatan</i> Extinct genus of sperm whale from the Miocene epoch

Livyatan is an extinct genus of macroraptorial sperm whale containing one known species: L. melvillei. The genus name was inspired by the biblical sea monster Leviathan, and the species name by Herman Melville, the author of the famous novel Moby-Dick about a white bull sperm whale. Herman Melville often referred to whales as "Leviathans" in his book. It is mainly known from the Pisco Formation of Peru during the Tortonian stage of the Miocene epoch, about 9.9–8.9 million years ago (mya); however, finds of isolated teeth from other locations such as Chile, Argentina, the United States (California), South Africa and Australia imply that either it or a close relative survived into the Pliocene, around 5 mya, and may have had a global presence. It was a member of a group of macroraptorial sperm whales and was probably an apex predator, preying on whales, seals and so forth. Characteristically of raptorial sperm whales, Livyatan had functional, enamel-coated teeth on the upper and lower jaws, as well as several features suitable for hunting large prey.

<i>Cardabiodon</i> Extinct genus of sharks

Cardabiodon is an extinct genus of large mackerel shark that lived about 95 to 91 million years ago (Ma) during the Cenomanian to Turonian of the Late Cretaceous. It is a member of the Cardabiodontidae, a family unique among mackerel sharks due to differing dental structures, and contains the two species C. ricki and C. venator. Cardabiodon fossils have been found in Australia, North America, England, and Kazakhstan. It was likely an antitropical shark that inhabited temperate neritic and offshore oceans between 40° and 60° paleolatitude, similar to the modern porbeagle shark.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ferron Formation</span> Geologic unit in Utah, USA

The Ferron Sandstone Member of the Mancos Shale is a geologic unit in Utah. It preserves fossils dating back to the Cretaceous period; and more specifically the middle Turonian.

This list of fossil fishes described in 2015 is a list of new taxa of jawless vertebrates, placoderms, acanthodians, fossil cartilaginous fishes, bony fishes and other fishes of every kind that have been described during the year 2015, as well as other significant discoveries and events related to paleontology of fishes that occurred in the year 2015. The list only includes taxa at the level of genus or species.

This list of fossil fish described in 2018 is a list of new taxa of jawless vertebrates, placoderms, acanthodians, fossil cartilaginous fish, bony fish, and other fish of every kind that are scheduled to be described during the year 2018, as well as other significant discoveries and events related to paleontology of fish that are scheduled to occur in 2018.

This list of fossil fishes described in 2019 is a list of new taxa of jawless vertebrates, placoderms, acanthodians, fossil cartilaginous fishes, bony fishes, and other fishes of every kind that were described during the year 2019, as well as other significant discoveries and events related to paleoichthyology that occurred in 2019.

<i>Paraisurus</i> Extinct genus of sharks

Paraisurus is an extinct genus of mackerel sharks that lived during the Cretaceous. It contains four valid species, which have been found in Europe, Asia, North America, and Australia. A fifth species, P. amudarjensis, is now considered a synonym of P. compressus. While this genus is mostly known from isolated teeth, an associated dentition of P. compressus was found in the Weno Formation of Texas. It went extinct around the Albian-Cenomanian boundary, as a supposed Coniacian occurrence of "P. sp." is likely a misidentified pseudoscapanorhynchid.

<i>Archaeolamna</i> Extinct genus of sharks

Archaeolamna is an extinct genus of mackerel sharks that lived during the Cretaceous. It contains three valid species which have been found in Europe, North America, and Australia. While it is mostly known from isolated teeth, an associated set of teeth, jaws, cranial fragments, and vertebrae of A. kopingensis is known from the Pierre Shale of Kansas. Teeth of A. k. judithensis were found with a plesiosaur skeleton with bite marks from the Judith River Formation of Montana. It was a medium-sized shark with an estimated total body length of 3–4 metres (9.8–13.1 ft).

<i>Xenodens</i> Extinct genus of lizards

Xenodens is an extinct genus of marine lizard belonging to the mosasaur family. It currently contains a single species, X. calminechari, which is known from Late Maastrichtian phosphate deposits in the Ouled Abdoun Basin, Morocco. Its closest known relative is believed to be the durophagous Carinodens.

This list of fossil fish research presented in 2021 is a list of new taxa of jawless vertebrates, placoderms, acanthodians, fossil cartilaginous fishes, bony fishes, and other fishes that were described during the year, as well as other significant discoveries and events related to paleoichthyology that occurred in 2021.

This list of fossil fish research presented in 2023 is a list of new fossil taxa of jawless vertebrates, placoderms, cartilaginous fishes, bony fishes, and other fishes that were described during the year, as well as other significant discoveries and events related to paleoichthyology that occurred in 2023.

References

  1. Williston, S.W. (1900). "Some fish teeth from the Kansas Cretaceous". Kansas University Quarterly. 9 (1): 27–42.
  2. Cope, E.D. (1875). The Vertebrata of the Cretaceous Formations of the West. Washington, DC: United States Government Printing Office. doi: 10.5962/bhl.title.61834 .
  3. 1 2 Schmitz, L.; Thies, D.; Kriwet, J. (2010). "Two new lamniform sharks (Leptostyrax stychi sp. nov. and Protolamna sarstedtensis sp. nov.) from the Early Cretaceous of NW Germany". Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie - Abhandlungen. 257 (3): 283–296. doi:10.1127/0077-7749/2010/0074.
  4. Sokolov, M.I. (1965). "Evolyutsiya zubov nekotorykh melovykh akul i rekonstruktsiya ikh ozubleniya [Evolution of the teeth of some Cretaceous sharks and reconstruction of their dentition]". Moskovkoe Obshchestvo Ispytatelie Prirody, Bulletin, Otodel Geologicheskii. 40: 133–134.
  5. Sokolov, M.I. (1978). Zuby akul kak rukovodyashchiye iskopayemyye pri zonalʹnom raschlenenii melovykh otlozheniy Turanskoy plity [Shark teeth as guiding fossils in the zonal division of the Cretaceous deposits of the Turan Plate]. Moscow: Nedra.
  6. Frederickson, J.A.; Schaefer, S.N.; Doucette-Frederickson, J.A. (2015). "A gigantic shark from the Lower Cretaceous Duck Creek Formation of Texas". PLOS ONE. 10 (6): e0127162. Bibcode:2015PLoSO..1027162F. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0127162 . PMC   4454486 . PMID   26039066.