Stylorhynchus Martin 1873 non-Lesson1847 non-Stein 1848
Systolichthys Beltan 1972[2]
Saurichthys curionii fossil from the Middle Triassic of Monte San Giorgio, SwitzerlandEarly Triassic and Middle Triassic marine predators:[3] 3. Saurichthys
Saurichthys (from Greek: σαῦροςsaûros, 'lizard' and Greek: ἰχθῦςikhthûs 'fish') is an extinct genus of predatory ray-finned fish from the Triassic Period. It is the type genus of the family Saurichthyidae (Changhsingian-Middle Jurassic), and the most speciose and longest lasting genus in the family. This family also includes the Permian Eosaurichthys (China) and the Jurassic Saurorhynchus (= Acidorhynchus)[4] from Europe and North America, though it may be more appropriate to treat these as subgenera of Saurichthys, due to the genus Saurichthys otherwise being paraphyletic.[5]
Fossils of Saurichthys have been found on all continents except South America and Antarctica.[6][7][8] It inhabited both marine and freshwater environments.[8][9] The oldest fossils of Saurichthys were recovered from the Wordie Creek Formation in East Greenland and are Griesbachian (Induan, Early Triassic) in age.[10]
Over 50 species of Saurichthys have been described (see list below). The species differ in size and show variability in their skeletal features. The latter can potentially be ascribed to changes in major developmental genes.[11] The use of subgenera (Eosaurichthys, Costasaurichthys, Lepidosaurichthys, Saurorhynchus, Sinosaurichthys) in the literature reflects differences in morphology between species groups.[12] Several species that were described predominantly in the 19th century are based on fragmentary fossils (often isolated teeth). These are mostly considered invalid species by modern taxonomic standards.
Louis Agassiz, who described the type species of Saurichthys in 1834, named it the "lizard fish" because of skeletal features that he thought were intermediate to reptiles and fishes.
Their exact phylogenetic position is uncertain, though it is agreed that they are not members of Neopterygii. Historically, they have been seen as close relatives of the Acipenseriformes (which includes living sturgeon and paddlefish) as part of the Chondrostei, though this has been strongly questioned by modern studies, which suggests that it may lie outside the Actinopterygii crown group.[5]
^ abcStensiö, E. (1925). "Triassic Fishes from Spitzbergen, Part II". Kungliga Svenska Vetenskapsakademiens Handlingar. 3: 1–126.
^ abCartanyà, J. (1999). "An overview of the Middle Triassic actinopterygians from Alcover, Mont-ral and El Pinetell (Catalonia, Spain)". In G. Arratia; H. P. Schultze (eds.). Mesozoic Fishes 2—Systematics and Fossil Record. München: Friedrich Pfeil. pp. 535–551.
^Scheyer, Torsten M.; Romano, Carlo; Jenks, Jim; Bucher, Hugo (2014). "Early Triassic Marine Biotic Recovery: The Predators' Perspective". PLOS ONE. 9 (3): e88987. Bibcode:2014PLoSO...988987S. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0088987. PMC 3960099. PMID 24647136.
^Kogan, Ilja (2016). "Acidorhynchus Stensiö, 1925 or Saurorhynchus Reis, 1892: how to call the Jurassic saurichthyid?". Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie, Abhandlungen. 279 (1): 123–126. doi:10.1127/njgpa/2016/0545.
^ abArgyriou, Thodoris; Giles, Sam; Friedman, Matt; Romano, Carlo; Kogan, Ilja; Sánchez-Villagra, Marcelo R. (December 2018). "Internal cranial anatomy of Early Triassic species of †Saurichthys (Actinopterygii: †Saurichthyiformes): implications for the phylogenetic placement of †saurichthyiforms". BMC Evolutionary Biology. 18 (1): 161. doi:10.1186/s12862-018-1264-4. ISSN 1471-2148. PMC 6211452. PMID 30382811.
^Saurichthys at Fossilworks.org
^Mutter, R. J.; Cartanyà, J.; Basaraba, S. A. U. (2008). "New evidence of Saurichthys from the Lower Triassic with an evaluation of early saurichthyid diversity". In G. Arratia; H.-P. Schultze; M. V. H. Wilson (eds.). Mesozoic Fishes 4—Homology and phylogeny. München: Friedrich Pfeil. pp. 103–127.
^ abCite error: The named reference Romano2012 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Kligman, Ben T.; Parker, William G.; Marsh, Adam D. (2017). "First record of Saurichthys (Actinopterygii) from the Upper Triassic (Chinle Formation, Norian) of western North America". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 37 (5): e1367304. doi:10.1080/02724634.2017.1367304.
^Kogan, Ilja (2011). "Remains of Saurichthys (Pisces, Actinopterygii) from the Early Triassic Wordie Creek Formation of East Greenland" (PDF). Bulletin of the Geological Society of Denmark. 93: 93–100. doi:10.37570/bgsd-2011-59-09.
^Schmid, Leonhard; Sánchez-Villagra, Marcelo R. (2010). "Potential genetic bases of morphological evolution in the triassic fish Saurichthys". Journal of Experimental Zoology (Molecular and Developmental Evolution). 314B (7): 519–526. doi:10.1002/jez.b.21372. PMID 20853419.
^Silvio Renesto; Fabio Magnani; Rudolf Stockar (2021). "A new species of Saurichthys (Actinopterygii: Saurichtydae) from the Middle Triassic of Monte San Giorgio". Rivista Italiana di Paleontologia e Stratigrafia. 127 (1): 49–71. doi:10.13130/2039-4942/15143.
treat these as subgenera of Saurichthys, due to the genus Saurichthys otherwise being paraphyletic. Fossils of Saurichthys have been found on all continents...
viviparity in ray-finned fish is found in Middle Triassic species of †Saurichthys. Viviparity is relatively rare and is found in about 6% of living teleost...
described as Saurichthys mougeoti. Following a reinvestigation, Erik Stensiö concluded that this species cannot be ascribed to Saurichthys. He thus erected...
(December 2018). "Internal cranial anatomy of Early Triassic species of †Saurichthys (Actinopterygii: †Saurichthyiformes): implications for the phylogenetic...
formation in England. It preserves fossils of Holcoptera schlotheimi, Saurichthys acuminatus, Coleopteron sp. and Liassophlebia sp. dating back to the...
Hemirhamphodon or in the Goodeidae or the gonopodium in the Middle Triassic †Saurichthys, the oldest known example of viviparity in a ray-finned fish. Claspers...
of Saurichthys rather than a genus, with its type species referred to as Saurichthys (Eosaurichthys) chaoi. The Early Triassic species Saurichthys madagascariensis...
two additional species, S. longimedialis and S. minuta. The species Saurichthys spinosa from the Middle Triassic of China may be closely related with...
Australosomus, Birgeria, Parasemionotidae, Pteronisculus, Ptycholepidae, Saurichthys and Whiteia. This is well exemplified in the Griesbachian (early Induan)...
Hyrnefjellet, Hornsund. The bony fish teeth are mostly tentatively referred to Saurichthys sp. List of fossiliferous stratigraphic units in Norway Vardebukta Formation...
(November 2018). "Internal cranial anatomy of Early Triassic species of †Saurichthys (Actinopterygii: †Saurichthyiformes): implications for the phylogenetic...
Birgeria, Bobasatrania, Parasemionotidae, Pteronisculus, Ptycholepidae, Saurichthys, Whiteia). This is well exemplified in the Griesbachian aged fish assemblages...
"Re-evaluation of the ontogeny and reproductive biology of the Triassic fish Saurichthys (Actinopterygii, Saurichthyidae)". Palaeontology. 61: 559–574. doi:10...
ecosystems alongside molluscs like bivalves and ammonites, bony fishes like Saurichthys and coelacanths, cartilaginous fishes like hybodonts, and marine reptiles...
Birgeria, Bobasatrania, Boreosomus, Pteronisculus, Parasemionotidae and Saurichthys appeared close to the Permian-Triassic boundary, whereas neopterygians...
curve in the same direction, which may be a consequence of current flow. Saurichthys fossils of the Grenzbitumenzone are often well-preserved, though disarticulated...
reptile, youngest known thalattosaur Lissodus L. minimus A hybodont shark Saurichthys A pike or gar-like predatory fish Sargodon A dapediiform fish Gyrolepis...
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