Crossopholis
Sign in to saveCrossopholis is an extinct paddlefish known from the early Eocene (Ypresian) of North America, approximately 52 million years ago. It is a close relative of the contemporary American paddlefish, though it is thought to have been a fish-eater like the Chinese paddlefish rather than a filter feeder.
Museum specimens
- Specimen records
- 4
- Family
- Polyodontidae
- Collections
- NHMUK, USNM, UWYO
- Recorded in
- United States
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- taxon
- Parent taxon
- paddlefish
Show 3 more facts
- taxon name
- Crossopholis
- taxon rank
- genus
- Commons category
- Crossopholis
Sources (1)
via Wikidata · CC0
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Encyclopedic overview
5 sectionsContents
- History of discovery
- Description
- Classification
- Paleobiology
- References
Crossopholis is an extinct paddlefish known from the early Eocene (Ypresian) of North America, approximately 52 million years ago. It is a close relative of the contemporary American paddlefish, though it is thought to have been a fish-eater like the Chinese paddlefish rather than a filter feeder.
==History of discovery== First described by Edward Drinker Cope in 1883, the first specimen consisted of an incomplete section of the fish's body and tail. In 1886, a partial skull was recovered by Cope. A nearly complete fossil wasn't recorded until 1980. This was due, in part, to the comparative rarity of the fossil as well as the similarities to other species found within the site.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Crossopholis” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.