Postredectes Temporal range: Maastrichtian ~ | |
---|---|
Holotype | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Actinopterygii |
Order: | † Ichthyodectiformes |
Family: | † Ichthyodectidae |
Genus: | † Postredectes Kaddumi, 2009 |
Type species | |
†Postredectes harranaensis Kaddumi, 2009 |
Postredectes (meaning "last ichthyodectid") is an extinct genus of ichthyodectid ray-finned fish from the Late Cretaceous Muwaqqar Chalk-Marl Formation of Jordan. The type species is P. harranaensis. [1]
The holotype, consisting of the skull, pectoral fins, five cervical vertebrae and several scales, [1] was mined from the chalk deposits at Wadi Harrana, Jordan where a lagerstätte known as the Muwaqqar Chalk-Marl Formation is present. [2]
The specimen was studied by Jordanian palaeontologist Hani Faig Kaddumi, who created the species Postredectes harranaensis for the specimen in 2009. [1]
The skull of Postredectes was around 17 centimetres (6.7 in) long, suggesting the entire animal reached around 1.5 metres (4.9 ft) long. [1]
Postredectes is characterized by the absence of large premaxillary tusks, and the premaxillary, maxillary and mandibular teeth were sharp and equipped with two keels, and occupied sockets in both the premaxilla and the maxilla. The mandibular teeth were also three times longer than those present in the premaxilla and maxilla. [1]
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The Muwaqqar Chalk-Marl Formation or Muwaqqar Formation is a Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) and early Paleogene-aged geological formation in Jordan, cropping out across the Jordanian Highlands from north to south. It is the geological formation containing Jordan's famous oil shales, which are among the largest in the world. Some outcrops of the formation contain extremely well-preserved fossils, making it a lagerstätte.
Hani Faig Kaddumi is a Jordanian paleontologist and geologist working at the Eternal River Museum of Natural History in Amman, Jordan.