Belonostomus Explained

Belonostomus (from Greek, Modern (1453-);: βέλος, 'dart' and Greek, Modern (1453-);: στόμα 'mouth')[1] is a genus of prehistoric ray-finned fish that was described by Louis Agassiz in 1844. It is a member of the order Aspidorhynchiformes, a group of fish known for their distinctive elongated rostrums.[2]

Fossils of Belonostomus have been found worldwide in marine deposits, although some species are known from freshwater habitats.[3] The oldest known species are from the Upper Jurassic of Germany and England, with the youngest known species from the late Maastrichtian. One specimen has been recovered from the late Paleocene of North Dakota, which would suggest that this genus was the only aspidorhynchean to survive into the Cenozoic, although it is possible this fossil may have been reworked from earlier formations.[4]

It likely consumed plankton or other small fish,[5] though one specimen from the Late Jurassic of Germany was found with the rhynchocephalian Homoeosaurus as stomach contents.[6]

Taxonomy

Known Belonostomus species are:[7] [8]

Indeterminate remains are known from worldwide, including the Gulf Coast of the United States (Alabama, Arkansas, and Texas), Australia, Belgium, Lebanon, and Russia.The former species B. acutus Agassiz, 1844 (syn: B. tenellus Agassiz ex Egerton 1841) and B. anningiae Agassiz, 1843 from the early-mid Jurassic of England are now thought to be species of the unrelated saurichthyiform Saurorhynchus.[16] The former species B. carinatus Mawson and Woodward, 1907 from the Hauterivian of Brazil is now thought to be a stem-gar in the family Obaichthyidae.[17] The former species B. microcephalus Winkler, 1862 from the Tithonian of Germany is now thought to be a junior synonym of Aspidorhynchus acustirostris, while B. flexuosus Philips, 1871 is one of A. crassus.[18] The former species B. sweeti Etheridge & Woodward, 1892 is now placed in Richmondichthys. The former species B. pygmaeus Winkler, 1874 from the Tithonian of Germany is thought to be an immature specimen of one of the other Solnhofen Belonostomus species.

References

Notes and References

  1. Book: Roberts . George . An etymological and explanatory dictionary of the terms and language of geology . 1839 . Longman, Orme, Brown, Green, & Longmans . London . 19 . 29 December 2021 . English.
  2. Web site: PBDB . 2024-03-07 . paleobiodb.org.
  3. Bryant . Laurie J. . 1987 . Belonostomus (Teleostei: Aspidorhynchidae) from the Late Paleocene of North Dakota . PaleoBios . Museum of Paleontology, University of California Berkeley . 43.
  4. Agnolin . Federico . Description of a new aspidorhynchid fish, Belonostomus lamarquensis sp. nov. (Halecostomi, Aspidorhynchiformes), from the continental Upper Cretaceous of Patagonia, Argentina . Bulletin de l'Institut Royal des Sciences Naturelles de Belqique, Sciences de la Terre.
  5. Van Vranken. Nathan. Fielitz. Christopher. Ebersole. Jun. 2019. New occurrences of Belonostomus (Teleostomorpha: Aspidorhynchidae) from the Late Cretaceous of the North American Gulf Coastal Plain, USA. Palaeontologia Electronica. 22. 3. 1–11. 10.26879/983. 204264731. 1935-3952. free.
  6. Frey . Eberhard . Tischlinger . Helmut . 2012-03-07 . Fenton . Brock . The Late Jurassic Pterosaur Rhamphorhynchus, a Frequent Victim of the Ganoid Fish Aspidorhynchus? . PLOS ONE . en . 7 . 3 . e31945 . 2012PLoSO...731945F . 10.1371/journal.pone.0031945 . 1932-6203 . 3296705 . 22412850 . free.
  7. Brito . P. M. . 1997 . Révision des Aspidorhynchidae (Pisces, Actinopterygii) du Mésozoïque : ostéologie, relations phylogénétiques, données environnementales et biogéographiques . Geodiversitas. 88964324 .
  8. Book: Woodward . Arthur Smith . Catalogue of the fossil fishes in the British Museum (Natural History), Cromwell Road, S.W . Woodward . Arthur Smith . Woodward . Henry . History) . British Museum (Natural . 1895 . Printed by order of the Trustees . Pt.III . London.
  9. Web site: GB3D Type Fossils High resolution photographs and digital models of British type fossils . 2024-03-07 . www.3d-fossils.ac.uk.
  10. Web site: The Cenomanian-Turonian ichthyofaunas from the Scaglia-type succession of northeastern Italy . 2024-03-07 . www.research.unipd.it.
  11. Martill . David M. . Ibrahim . Nizar . Brito . Paulo M. . Baider . Lahssen . Zhouri . Samir . Loveridge . Robert . Naish . Darren . Hing . Richard . 2011-08-01 . A new Plattenkalk Konservat Lagerstätte in the Upper Cretaceous of Gara Sbaa, south-eastern Morocco . Cretaceous Research . 32 . 4 . 433–446 . 10.1016/j.cretres.2011.01.005 . 2011CrRes..32..433M . 0195-6671.
  12. Web site: Mineralienatlas - Fossilienatlas . 2024-03-07 . www.mineralienatlas.de . en.
  13. Lane . Jennifer . 2014-11-01 . The Species of the Genus Belonostomus (Neopterygii, Aspidorhynchiformes) in the Late Jurassic of the Solnhofen Archipelago . Archaeopteryx . 32 . 15–43.
  14. Brito . Paulo M. . Suarez . Mario E. . 2010-06-29 . Late Cretaceous Belonostomus (Pisces, Actinopterygii, Aspidorhynchidae) from Algarrobo, Chile, with comments on aspidorhynchid paleodistribution in South America . Andean Geology . en . 30 . 1 . 117–127 . 0718-7106.
  15. College~nvanvranken@sbcglobal.net . Nathan E. Van Vranken~Potomac State . College~cfielitz@ehc.edu . Christopher Fielitz~Emory & Henry . Center~Jebersole@mcwane.org . Jun A. Ebersole~McWane Science . 2019-09-13 . New occurrences of Belonostomus (Teleostomorpha: Aspidorhynchidae) from the Late Cretaceous of the North American Gulf Coastal Plain, USA . 2024-03-07 . Palaeontologia Electronica . 10.26879/983 . en. free .
  16. Maxwell . Erin E. . Stumpf . Sebastian . 2017-05-23 . Revision of Saurorhynchus (Actinopterygii: Saurichthyidae) from the Early Jurassic of England and Germany . European Journal of Taxonomy . en . 321 . 10.5852/ejt.2017.321 . 2118-9773.
  17. Brito . Paulo M. . Lindoso . Rafael M. . Carvalho . Ismar S. . de Paula Machado . Giselle . 2016-04-01 . Discovery of †Obaichthyidae gars (Holostei, Ginglymodi, Lepisosteiformes) in the Aptian Codó Formation of the Parnaíba Basin: Remarks on paleobiogeographical and temporal range . Cretaceous Research . 59 . 10–17 . 10.1016/j.cretres.2015.10.017 . 2016CrRes..59...10B . 0195-6671.
  18. López-Arbarello . Adriana . Schröder . Kerstin M. . 2014-06-01 . The species of Aspidorhynchus Agassiz, 1833 (Neopterygii, Aspidorhynchiformes) from the Jurassic plattenkalks of Southern Germany . Paläontologische Zeitschrift . en . 88 . 2 . 167–185 . 10.1007/s12542-013-0187-z . 2014PalZ...88..167L . 1867-6812.

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