Calamopleurus

  1. Home
  2. Wiki

Calamopleurus
Temporal range: Late Hauterivian to Early Cenomanian
Calamopleurus cylindricus
Reconstruction of Calamopleurus cylindricus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Clade: Halecomorphi
Order: Amiiformes
Family: Amiidae
Subfamily: †Vidalamiinae
Genus: †Calamopleurus
Agassiz, 1841
Type species
Calamopleurus cylindricus
Agassiz, 1841
Species

See text

Calamopleurus is a prehistoric genus of marine halecomorph 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.[1] C. cylindricus was among the largest known amiids, rivaling the giant Paleocene bowfin Amia pattersoni in size. However, both were slightly smaller than Melvius and Amia basiloides, the two largest known amiids. It is one of the earliest known amiids to evolve a large body size.[2]

Taxonomy

[edit]

It is thought Calamopleurus is a sister genus to Maliamia, the last surviving member of the vidalamiines, which is the largely marine amiid group that also contained Calamopleurus. Both are placed in the tribe Calamopleurini.[3]

The genus contains three species:[4][5]

Calamopleurus africanus

[edit]

This species lived in southern Morocco and Algeria during the Cretaceous period in the late Albian and early Cenomanian. It was described from fragmentary remains in the Kem Kem beds. Ossified dermopterotic ribs were inferred from a loose association between the dermosphenotic and the roof of the skull.[7]

Cast of C. cylindricus with Vinctifer lodged in the pharynx.
Fossil of Calamopleurus eating Rhacolepis

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "PBDB Taxon". paleobiodb.org. Retrieved 2024-04-16.
  2. ^ Brownstein, Chase D.; Near, Thomas J. (2024). "A giant bowfin from a Paleocene hothouse ecosystem in North America". academic.oup.com. doi:10.1093/zoolinnean/zlae042/7659736. Retrieved 2024-04-30.
  3. ^ "PBDB Taxon". paleobiodb.org. Retrieved 2024-04-16.
  4. ^ Peter L. Forey & Lance Grande (1998). "An African twin to the Brazilian Calamopleurus (Actinopterygii: Amiidae)". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 123 (2): 179–195. doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.1998.tb01299.x.
  5. ^ Brito, Paulo M.; Nava, William R.; Martinelli, Agustin G. (2017-09-01). "A New Fossil Amiidae (Holostei: Halecomorphi) from the Upper Cretaceous Adamantina Formation, Southeastern Brazil, with comments on western Gondwana amiids". Cretaceous Research. 77: 39–43. Bibcode:2017CrRes..77...39B. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2017.04.018. ISSN 0195-6671.
  6. ^ Benyoucef, Madani; Läng, Emilie; Cavin, Lionel; Mebarki, Kaddour; Adaci, Mohammed; Bensalah, Mustapha (2015). "Overabundance of piscivorous dinosaurs (Theropoda: Spinosauridae) in the mid-Cretaceous of North Africa: The Algerian dilemma". Cretaceous Research. 55: 44–55. Bibcode:2015CrRes..55...44B. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2015.02.002. ISSN 0195-6671.
  7. ^ Peter L. Forey & Lance Grande (1998). "An African twin to the Brazilian Calamopleurus (Actinopterygii: Amiidae)". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 123 (2): 179–195. doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.1998.tb01299.x.


Stub icon

This Amiiformes-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.