Obaichthys Temporal range: | |
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Specimen of O. decoratus | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Actinopterygii |
Clade: | Ginglymodi |
Order: | Lepisosteiformes |
Family: | † Obaichthyidae |
Genus: | † Obaichthys Wenz & Brito, 1992 |
Species | |
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Synonyms | |
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Obaichthys is an extinct genus of lepisosteiform fish that inhabited South America, Africa, and southern Europe during the mid-Cretaceous period. It closely resembled modern gars, which it was related to, but differed in its spiny scales and restricted mouth gape. The genus name references the Yoruba spirit Ọba, who is worshiped in the Candomblé religion in Brazil. [1] [2] [3]
The following species are known: [2]
Indeterminate scales of Obaichthys, formerly referred to chimera genus " Stromerichthys ", are known from the Albian of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Notably, these scales are morphologically more similar to those of the concurrent O. decoratus from Brazil than with the younger O. africanus, despite the latter being on found on the same continent. [4] The species O. laevis was also initially described in this genus, but was later moved into its own genus, Dentilepisosteus , which is the only other confirmed genus in the family Obaichthyidae. Much like Obaichthys, Dentilepisosteus is known from both South America and Africa. [3] [9]
Obaichthys remains have been discovered in formations representing both freshwater and marine environments, suggesting it was a euryhaline fish that primarily inhabited freshwater & brackish environments but was tolerant of saltwater, much like modern gars. Evidence for such a euryhaline behavior has been found in the distribution and localities of both Obaichthys species. [6]
The Bahariya Formation is a fossiliferous geologic formation dating back to the early Cenomanian, which outcrops within the Bahariya depression in Egypt, and is known from oil exploration drilling across much of the Western Desert where it forms an important oil reservoir.
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.
Axelrodichthys is an extinct genus of mawsoniid coelacanth from the Cretaceous of Africa, North and South America, and Europe. Several species are known, the remains of which were discovered in the Lower Cretaceous (Aptian-Albian) of Brazil, North Africa, and possibly Mexico, as well as in the Upper Cretaceous of Morocco (Cenomanian), Madagascar and France. The Axelrodichthys of the Lower Cretaceous frequented both brackish and coastal marine waters while the most recent species lived exclusively in fresh waters. The French specimens are the last known fresh water coelacanths. Most of the species of this genus reached 1 metre to 2 metres in length. Axelrodichthys was named in 1986 by John G. Maisey in honor of the American ichthyologist Herbert R. Axelrod.
Belonostomus is a genus of prehistoric ray-finned fish that was described by Louis Agassiz in 1844. It is a member of the order Aspidorhynchiformes, a group of fish known for their distinctive elongated rostrums.
Mawsonia is an extinct genus of prehistoric coelacanth fish. It is amongst the largest of all coelacanths, with one quadrate specimen possibly belonging to an individual measuring 5.3 metres in length. It lived in freshwater and brackish environments from the late Jurassic to the mid-Cretaceous of South America, eastern North America, and Africa. Mawsonia was first described by British paleontologist Arthur Smith Woodward in 1907.
The Kem Kem Group is a geological group in the Kem Kem region of eastern Morocco, whose strata date back to the Cenomanian stage of the Late Cretaceous. Its strata are subdivided into two geological formations, with the lower Ifezouane Formation and the upper Aoufous Formation used for the strata on the eastern side of the Atlas Mountains (Tinghir), with the Gara Sbaa Formation and Douira Formation used in the southern Tafilalt region. It is exposed on an escarpment along the Algeria–Morocco border.
Cladocyclus is an extinct genus of marine ichthyodectiform fish from the middle Cretaceous. It was a predatory fish of about 1.20 metres (3.9 ft) in length.
Calamopleurus is an prehistoric genus of marine holostean 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.
Aphanepygus is an extinct genus of prehistoric marine holostean ray-finned fish that lived during the upper Cenomanian. It inhabited the former Tethys Ocean, with remains known from Lebanon and Croatia. Its exact affinities are uncertain, although it is usually recovered as a relative of the macrosemiids. However, other authorities recover it in the Ionoscopiformes.
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.
Coelodus is an extinct genus of marine and possibly freshwater pycnodont fish. It contains only one definitive species, C. saturnusHeckel, 1854, from the Late Cretaceous of Slovenia. Other species from the Late Jurassic to the Eocene have also been attributed to this genus based on isolated dental elements, but their assignment to Coelodus is uncertain, and this genus likely represents a non-monophyletic wastebasket taxon. A potential diagnostic trait is a prearticular tooth row with three regular highly elongated teeth.
Clupavus is an extinct genus of marine ray-finned fish that lived during the middle of the Cretaceous period. It is known from North Africa, Europe, Brazil, and possibly North America.
Bullichthys is an extinct genus of marine albuliform fish which existed in the Romualdo Formation, Brazil during the Early Cretaceous (Albian) period. The type species is B. santanensis. The genus name references its inflated otic bulla.
Pycnodontidae is an extinct family of ray-finned fishes, ranging from the Jurassic period until the Eocene. It was the largest and most derived family of the successful Mesozoic fish order Pycnodontiformes, and one of only two families to survive into the Cenozoic.
Tribodus is an extinct genus of hybodont. It lived during the mid Cretaceous (Albian-Cenomanian) with fossils being known from northern South America, North Africa, and southern Europe.
Tselfatiiformes is an extinct order of bony fishes from the infraclass Teleostei. The order represents the most important radiation of marine teleosts during the Cretaceous period. Fossils of tselfatiiforms are known from Europe, North America, central and northern South America, the Middle East and North Africa.
Agassizilia is an extinct genus of both freshwater and marine pycnodont fishes from the mid-late Cretaceous. The genus is named after paleontologist Louis Agassiz.
Obaichthyidae is an extinct family of ginglymodian ray-finned fish that lived in what is now Africa, South America, and southern Europe during the Cretaceous period. They were close relatives of the modern gars of the family Lepisosteidae, with the two groups making up the superfamily Lepisosteoidea.
Oniichthys is an extinct genus of gar in the family Lepisosteidae. It contains a single species, O. falipoui, known from the Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian) of Morocco.
The Akrabou Formation is a Late Cretaceous -aged geological formation and Konservat-Lagerstätte in Morocco. It overlies the slightly older freshwater deposits of the Kem Kem Group, which it was deposited over following the Kem Kem ecosystem's submergence by the Tethys Ocean during a marine transgression from the Cenomanian-Turonian boundary event, as part of a wider deposition of carbonate platforms across the region from the event.