Saurichthys
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Saurichthys Temporal range: Early Triassic–Middle Triassic |
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| Saurichthys fossil | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Saurichthyiformes |
| Family: | Saurichthyidae |
| Genus: |
Saurichthys Agassiz, 1834 |
| Species | |
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| Synonyms | |
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Ichthyorhynchus Bellotti, 1857 |
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Ichthyorhynchus Bellotti, 1857
Belonorhynchus Bronn, 1858
Giffonus Costa, 1862
Brevisaurichthys Beltan, 1972
Systolichthys Beltan, 1972
Saurichthys ('lizard fish') is an extinct genus of ray-finned fish from the Triassic period. Fossils have been found worldwide.
Saurichthys was an elongated, streamlined, fish about 1 metre (3.3 ft) long, and looked similar to the modern pike. Its dorsal and anal fins were placed opposite each other well back on the body, and the tail was symmetrical. These features would have made it a powerful swimmer, and it is presumed to have hunted in a similar way to the pike, attacking from an ambush at high speed. Its jaws were extremely long, making up a third of the total body length, and ended in a sharp, beak-like tip.
Fossil evidence, in the form of a bolus of bones in the same strata, indicates that Saurichthys attacked, or possibly scavenged the corpses of fishing pterosaurs such as Preondactylus.
Their closest modern-day relatives include the sturgeons, paddlefish, and the bowfins.
Romano, C., Kogan, I., Jenks, J., Jerjen, I. & Brinkmann, W. 2012. Saurichthys and other fossil fishes from the late Smithian (Early Triassic) of Bear Lake County (Idaho, USA), with a discussion of saurichthyid palaeogeography and evolution. Bulletin of Geosciences 87(3), 543–570.
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