Acrotemnus
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Acrotemnus is an extinct genus of marine pycnodontid ray-finned fish known from Europe, North America, and Africa during the Turonian stage of the Upper Cretaceous. North American species could reach comparatively giant sizes for pycnodonts.[1]
Taxonomy
The following species are known:[2]
- A. faba Agassiz, 1836 - Turonian of England (English Chalk)[3][4]
- A. megafrendodon (Shimada, Williamson & Sealey, 2010) - Turonian of New Mexico, USA (Mancos Shale) (=Macropycnodon megafrendodon Shimada, 2010)[1]
- A. streckeri (Hibbard, 1939) - Turonian of Kansas (Carlile Shale), potentially Texas (Boquillas Formation) (=Coelodus streckeri Hibbard, 1939)
An indeterminate potential species is also known from the Turonian of Nigeria (Benue Trough).[2][5]
Acrotemnus was initially known from just the type species A. faba described by Louis Agassiz in 1843 from specimens collected in England.[3] In 1939, Hibbard described a large-sized pycnodont from a tooth plate from Kansas, which he placed in Coelodus as C. streckeri. In 2010, Shimada, Williamson & Sealey described a gigantic pycnodont known from a few tooth plates found in New Mexico as Macropycnodon megafrendodon, placing C. streckeri in the same genus.[1] However, in 2021, Shimada, Portillo, and Cronin described a partial skeleton of a pycnodont from Texas as potentially being a specimen of A. streckeri. This specimen revealed close similarities between the anatomy of Macropycnodon and Acrotemnus, leading to the lumping of the former into the latter.[2]
Description
A. megafrendodon is known from isolated teeth, the largest being Script error: No such module "convert". in width. A comparision between the tooth-to-body size ratio of more completely known relatives, such as Coelodus saturnus, suggests that A. megafrendodon could have reached comparatively gigantic body sizes of over Script error: No such module "convert".. This would make it among the largest pycnodonts, especially given that the majority do not reach over Script error: No such module "convert". in length.[1] The partial specimen of A. cf. streckeri described in 2021 is estimated to have been roughly Script error: No such module "convert". in length, supporting these estimates.[2]
See also
References
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- ↑ a b L. Agassiz. 1836. Recherches Sur Les Poissons Fossiles. Tome I (livr. 18). Imprimerie de Petitpierre, Neuchatel
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- Pycnodontiformes genera
- Prehistoric ray-finned fish genera
- Turonian genera
- Late Cretaceous bony fish
- Late Cretaceous fish of North America
- Cretaceous fish of Europe
- Late Cretaceous fish of Africa
- Fossils of England
- Fossils of the United States
- Fossils of Nigeria
- Fossil taxa described in 1836
- Taxa named by Louis Agassiz