Sphenonectris

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Sphenonectris
An artist's concept of Sphenonectris.
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Chordata
Class:
Thelodonti
Order:
Furcacaudiformes
Family:
†Furcacaudidae
Genus:
Sphenonectris
Species

Sphenonectris turnerae [1]

Sphenonectris is an extinct genus of furcacaudiform thelodont which lived in the Northwest Territories of Canada during the Early Devonian period. It hails from the MOTH locality in the Mackenzie Mountains.[2]

Though large by furcacaudiform standards, Sphenonectris were small, jawless fish, characterized by their laterally compressed pot-bellied body and forked tail. They possessed a hunched pomacanthid-like body with the only visible fin being the caudal fin.[2] The scales of Sphenonectris likely served an anti-parasite role, similar to modern sharks which form large groups and cruise at slow to medium speeds.[3][4]

Sphenonectris sp. cast. Mackenzie Mountains, Northwest Territories (Canada). At the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology.

References

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  1. ^ Mark V. H. Wilson and Michael W. Caldwell, Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, Vol. 18, No. 1 (Apr. 10, 1998), pp. 10-29
  2. ^ a b Wilson, Mark V. H.; Caldwell, Michael W. (1998-04-10). "The Furcacaudiformes: a new order of jawless vertebrates with thelodont scales, based on articulated Silurian and Devonian fossils from northern Canada". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 18 (1): 10–29. doi:10.1080/02724634.1998.10011031. ISSN 0272-4634. JSTOR 4523870.
  3. ^ Ferrón, Humberto G.; Botella, Héctor (2017). "Squamation and ecology of thelodonts". PLOS ONE. 12 (2): e0172781. Bibcode:2017PLoSO..1272781F. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0172781. PMC 5328365. PMID 28241029.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: article number as page number (link)
  4. ^ Ferrón, Humberto G; Martínez-Pérez, Carlos; Turner, Susan; Manzanares, Esther; Botella, Héctor (2018). "Patterns of ecological diversification in thelodonts" (PDF). Palaeontology. 61 (2): 303–315. doi:10.1111/pala.12347. hdl:10550/85568.
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