Kingdom Metazoa
Phylum Chordata
Class Osteichthyes
Subclass Actinopterygii
Order Pachycormiformes
- Protosphyraena
Diet:
- Fish
Habitat:
- Marine
Material:
- Pectoral Fins
- Isolated Fragments
- Partial Skull Material?
The Pachycormidae is the sole member of the Pachycormiformes, an extinct group of fish restricted to the Mesozoic Era. They are best characterized by a pair of elongated, serrated, scythelike pectoral fins, and by the reduction or loss of the pelvic fins. In addition, all members have an extended bony rostrum (snout); in some genera, such as the local Protosphyraena, it resembles that of the swordfish. The modification of the pectoral fins into sabres is probably quite indicative of their hunting methods. It is believed that the animals would swim through a school of prey and use their blades to stun individual fish before they were devoured. Protosphyraena is known from a variety of Upper Cretaceous localities, most notably from exposures of marine shale along the Browns, Puntledge, and Trent Rivers.
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