Ichthyodectidae

Ichthyodectidae
Ichthyodectidae
Temporal range: Late Jurassic-Late Cretaceous
156.0–65.5 Ma
1. Xiphactinus audax
2. Ichthyodectes ctenodon
3. Cladocyclus gardneri
4. Chirocentrites sp.
Conservation status
Fossil
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Superclass: Osteichthyes
Class: Actinopterygii
Subclass: Neopterygii
Infraclass: Teleostei
Superorder: Osteoglossomorpha
Order: Ichthyodectiformes
Suborder: Ichthyodectoidei
Family: Ichthyodectidae
Crook, 1892
Subfamilies

Ichthyodectinae
Saurodontinae
and see text
Synonyms

Cladocyclidae
Unamichthyidae

The family Ichthyodectidae (literally "fish-biters") was a family of marine actinopterygian fish. Sometimes classified in the primitive bony fish order Pachycormiformes, they are today generally regarded as members of the "bulldog fish" order Ichthyodectiformes in the far more advanced Osteoglossomorpha. The type genus is Ichthyodectes, established by Edward Drinker Cope in 1870.

They were most diverse throughout the Cretaceous period, though Thrissops fossils are known from the Oxfordian-Kimmeridgian boundary in the Late Jurassic. Most ichthyodectids ranged between 1 and 5 meters (3–15 ft) in length. All known taxa were predators, feeding on smaller fish; in several cases, larger Ichthyodectidae preyed on smaller members of the family. Some species had remarkably large teeth, though others, such as Gillicus arcuatus, had small ones and sucked in their prey.

Systematics

The basal phylogeny is very badly resolved, leading to many ichthyodectids that are simply known to be rather primitive, but where nothing certain can be said about their precise relationships.[1]

Basal or incertae sedis

Subfamily Saurodontinae

  • Prosaurodon Stewart, 1999
  • Saurocephalus Harlan, 1824
  • Saurodon

Subfamily Ichthyodectinae

Footnotes

  1. ^ See references in Haaramo (2008)

References


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