Bonnerichthys

Bonnerichthys is a genus of fossil fishes within the family Pachycormidae that lived during the Coniacian to Maastrichtian stage of the Late Cretaceous.[1] Fossil remains of this taxon were first described from the Smoky Hill Member of the Niobrara Chalk Formation of Kansas (Late Coniacian-Early Campanian), and additional material was later reported from the Pierre Shale, Mooreville Chalk, Demopolis Chalk, Wenonah Formation, and Moreno Formation, among other localities.[2] It grew to at least 5 metres (16 ft) in total body length,[1] substantially less than the related Leedsichthys from the Jurassic which likely grew up to 16.5 metres (54 ft).[3]

Bonnerichthys
Temporal range: Late Cretaceous,
Restoration
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: †Pachycormiformes
Family: †Pachycormidae
Genus: †Bonnerichthys
Friedman et al., 2010
Species:
†B. gladius
Binomial name
†Bonnerichthys gladius
(Cope, 1873)
Synonyms

Feeding

One of the most significant features of Bonnerichthys is the recognition that it was a filter feeder, living on plankton. This recognition that many large-bodied fish from the Mesozoic in the Pachycormidae were filter feeders shows that this niche was filled for at least 100 million years before previously known. The modern niche is filled by several species of sharks and the baleen whales.

The international team that described the genus named it after the Marion Charles Bonner fossil hunting family,[4] whose collections from the Niobrara Cretaceous chalk of western Kansas are in many museums and research institutions.

References
  1. Matt Friedman; Kenshu Shimada; Larry D. Martin; Michael J. Everhart; Jeff Liston; Anthony Maltese & Michael Triebold (2010). "100-million-year dynasty of giant planktivorous bony fishes in the Mesozoic seas" (PDF). Science. 327 (5968): 990–993. Bibcode:2010Sci...327..990F. doi:10.1126/science.1184743. PMID 20167784. S2CID 206524637.
  2. Friedman, Matt; Shimada, Kenshu; Everhart, Michael J.; Irwin, Kelly J.; Grandstaff, Barbara S.; Stewart, J. D. (8 January 2013). "Geographic and stratigraphic distribution of the Late Cretaceous suspension-feeding bony fish Bonnerichthys gladius (Teleostei, Pachycormiformes)". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 33 (1): 35–47. doi:10.1080/02724634.2012.713059. S2CID 128958842.
  3. Liston, J., Newbrey, M., Challands, T., and Adams, C., 2013 (2013). "Growth, age and size of the Jurassic pachycormid Leedsichthys problematicus (Osteichthyes: Actinopterygii)" (PDF). In Arratia, G., Schultze, H. and Wilson, M. (ed.). Mesozoic Fishes 5 – Global Diversity and Evolution. München, Germany: Verlag Dr. Friedrich Pfeil. pp. 145–175. ISBN 9783899371598.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  4. "The Big Fish that Ate Small". 15 May 2014.
  • Bonnerichthys at the Oceans of Kansas website. Includes detailed taxonomic history, life restorations, bibliography, many photos of fossil remains.
  • Bonnerichthys discussion at boneblogger.com


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