Aspidorhynchus

File:Aspidorhynchus sanzenbacheri 2.jpg

Fossil of Aspidorhynchus sanzenbacheri

Aspidorhynchus is an extinct genus of predatory aspidorhynchiform from the Jurassic. Fossils have been found in Europe, Antarctica, and the Caribbean.

Description

Physical appearance

A slender-bodied fish, Aspidorhynchus had heavy scales and a symmetrical tail. It is famous for its pointy rostrum. It was a fast-swimming fish, too. Although it would've looked like the modern-day gars, it was not related to them because Aspidorhynchiformes is a separate order from the Lepisosteiformes.

Classification

Aspidorhynchus is a member of the family Aspidorhynchidae within the order Aspidorhynchiformes.

Image gallery

File:Aspidorhynchus 1904.png

Drawing

File:Aspidorhynchus NT.jpg

Reconstruction

File:Aspidorhynchus acutirostris 39845.jpg

Fossil of Aspidorhynchus acutirostris

File:Rhamphorhynchus and Aspidorhynchus.png

Fossil specimen WDC CSG 255, including a Rhamphorhynchus with a Leptolepides fish trapped in the pharynx and caught in the jaws of an Aspidorhynchus

Related pages

• Odacidae

References

1. López-Arbarello, Adriana; Schröder, Kerstin M. (June 2014). "The species of Aspidorhynchus Agassiz, 1833 (Neopterygii, Aspidorhynchiformes) from the Jurassic plattenkalks of Southern Germany". Paläontologische Zeitschrift.

File:Aspidorhynchus pygmaeus.jpg

Fossil