''Caturus'' (from , 'down' and 'tail') is an extinct genus of predatory marine fishes in the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Caturidae in the order

Amiiformes The Amiiformes order (biology), order of fish has only two extant taxa, extant species, the bowfins: ''Amia calva'' and ''Amia ocellicauda'', the latter recognized as a separate species in 2022. These Amiiformes are found in the freshwater syste ...

, related to modern bowfin. It has been suggested that the genus is non-

monophyletic In biological cladistics for the classification of organisms, monophyly is the condition of a taxonomic grouping being a clade – that is, a grouping of organisms which meets these criteria: # the grouping contains its own most recent co ...

with respect to other caturid genera. Fossils of this genus range from 200 to 140 mya (Early Jurassic to Early Cretaceous).

Taxonomy

''Caturus'' has a confused taxonomic history. The genus was originally described by

Louis Agassiz Jean Louis Rodolphe Agassiz ( ; ) FRS (For) FRSE (May 28, 1807 – December 14, 1873) was a Swiss-born American biologist and geologist who is recognized as a scholar of Earth's natural history. Spending his early life in Switzerland, he recei ...

for two fossil fish (''U. pachyurus'' and ''U. gracilis'') that had been previously described in the genus ''Uraeus'', which was found to already be preoccupied by a genus of

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of the same name (now classified as a subgenus within ''

Naja ''Naja'' is a genus of venomous elapid snakes commonly known as cobras (or "true cobras"). Various species occur throughout Africa, Southwest Asia, South Asia, and Southeast Asia. Several other elapid species are often called "cobras", such a ...

''). However, neither of these species were properly described with an associated illustration or proper description, and they remain ''nomen dubia''; the specimen of ''U. pachyurus'' is lost, and the specimen of ''Caturus gracilis'' is too poorly-preserved to assign a specific taxon. Later, the species ''C. furcatus'', initially described by Agassiz within '' Pachycormus'', was designated as the type species of the genus by Woodward, but this was incorrect as the type species of a genus must be one of the species originally described for it. These inconsistencies make both ''Caturus'' and ''Pachycormus'' (which was initially described with ''Uraeus gracilis'' as one of its species) taxonomically unstable genera, necessitating a petition to the Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature to retain ''C. furcatus'' as the type species of ''Caturus''.

Species

The following species are known: * †''C. agassizi'' ( Egerton, 1858) - Early Jurassic (

Hettangian The Hettangian is the earliest age and lowest stage of the Jurassic Period of the geologic timescale. It spans the time between 201.3 ± 0.2 Ma and 199.3 ± 0.3 Ma (million years ago). The Hettangian follows the Rhaetian (part of the Triass ...

Sinemurian In the geologic timescale, the Sinemurian is an age (geology), age and stage (stratigraphy), stage in the Early Jurassic, Early or Lower Jurassic epoch (geology), Epoch or series (stratigraphy), Series. It spans the time between 199.5 ±0.3 annu ...

) of England (

Blue Lias The Blue Lias is a formation (stratigraphy), geological formation in southern, eastern and western England and parts of South Wales, part of the Lias Group. The Blue Lias consists of a sequence of limestone and shale layers, laid down in latest ...

) * †''C. chirotes'' (

Agassiz Jean Louis Rodolphe Agassiz ( ; ) FRS (For) FRSE (May 28, 1807 – December 14, 1873) was a Swiss-born American biologist and geologist who is recognized as a scholar of Earth's natural history. Spending his early life in Switzerland, he recei ...

, 1839) - Early Jurassic (Hettangian/Sinemurian) of England (Blue Lias) (=''Conodus ferox'' Agassiz, 1844) * †''C. dartoni'' Eastman, 1899 - Middle Jurassic (

Bathonian In the geologic timescale the Bathonian is an age (geology), age and stage (stratigraphy), stage of the Middle Jurassic. It lasted from approximately 168.2 ±1.2 annum, Ma to around 165.3 ±1.1 Ma (million years ago). The Bathonian Age succeeds ...

) of

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( Sundance Formation) * †''C. deani'' Gregory, 1923 - Oxfordian of

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

( Jagua Formation) * †''C. ferox'' Winkler, 1862- Late Jurassic (

Tithonian In the geological timescale, the Tithonian is the latest age (geology), age of the Late Jurassic Epoch and the uppermost stage (stratigraphy), stage of the Upper Jurassic Series. It spans the time between 149.2 ±0.7 annum, Ma and 143.1 ±0.6 (mi ...

) of Germany ( Solnhofen Formation) * †''C. furcatus'' (Agassiz, 1833) - Late Jurassic ( Kimmeridgian) of Germany (Solnhofen Formation) * †''C. heterurus'' (Agassiz, 1839) - Early Jurassic (Hettangian/Sinemurian) of England (Blue Lias) (=''C. bucklandi'' Agassiz, 1844) * †''C. latipennis'' (Agassiz, 1844) - Early Jurassic (Hettangian/Sinemurian) of England (Blue Lias) * †''C. latus''

Münster Münster (; ) is an independent city#Germany, independent city (''Kreisfreie Stadt'') in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also a ...

, 1834 - Late Jurassic (Tithonian) of Germany (Solnhofen Formation) (=''C. cyprinoides'' Wagner, 1863) * †''C. macrurus'' Agassiz, 1833 - Late Jurassic (Kimmeridgian) of Germany (Solnhofen Formation) * †''C. porteri''

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, 1948 - Middle Jurassic (

Callovian In the geologic timescale, the Callovian is an age and stage in the Middle Jurassic, lasting between 165.3 ± 1.1 Ma (million years ago) and 161.5 ± 1.0 Ma. It is the last stage of the Middle Jurassic, following the Bathonian and preceding the ...

) of England (

Oxford Clay The Oxford Clay (or Oxford Clay Formation) is a Jurassic marine sedimentary rock formation underlying much of southeast England, from as far west as Dorset and as far north as Yorkshire. The Oxford Clay Formation dates to the Jurassic, specific ...

) * †''C. purbeckensis'' ( Woodward, 1890) - Early Cretaceous (

Berriasian In the geological timescale, the Berriasian is an age/ stage of the Early/Lower Cretaceous. It is the oldest subdivision in the entire Cretaceous. It has been taken to span the time between 143.1 ±0.6 Ma and 137.05 ± 0.2 (million years ago) ...

) of England (

Purbeck Group The Purbeck Group is an Upper Jurassic to Lower Cretaceous lithostratigraphy, lithostratigraphic group (stratigraphy), group (a sequence of rock strata) in south-east England. The name is derived from the district known as the Isle of Purbeck in ...

) * †''C. smithwoodwardi''

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 1925 - Early Jurassic (

Toarcian The Toarcian is, in the International Commission on Stratigraphy, ICS' geologic timescale, an age (geology), age and stage (stratigraphy), stage in the Early Jurassic, Early or Lower Jurassic. It spans the time between 184.2 Megaannum, Ma (million ...

) of Germany ( Posidonia Shale) * †''C. tarraconensis'' Sauvage, 1903 - Early Cretaceous (Berriasian/

Valanginian In the geologic timescale, the Valanginian is an age or stage of the Early or Lower Cretaceous. It spans between 137.05 ± 0.2 Ma and 132.6 ± 0.2 Ma (million years ago). The Valanginian Stage succeeds the Berriasian Stage of the Lower Cretac ...

) of Spain ( La Pedrera de Rúbies Formation) * †''C. tenuidens'' Woodward, 1895 - Early Cretaceous (Berriasian) of England (Purbeck Group) A number of species are no longer recognized. The species ''C. angustus'' Agassiz, 1844, ''C. branchiostegus'' Agassiz, 1834, ''C. brevicostatus'' Münster, 1842, ''C. contractus'' Wagner, 1863, ''C. driani'' Thiollière, 1851, ''C. elongatus'' Agassiz, 1834, ''C. gracilis'' Wagner, 1863, ''C. maximus'' Agassiz, 1834, ''C. microchirus'' Agassiz, 1834 and ''C. pleiodus'' Agassiz, 1844 are considered '' nomina dubia'', while ''C. fusiformis'' Wagner, 1863 is considered a ''

nomen nudum In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, a ''nomen nudum'' ('naked name'; plural ''nomina nuda'') is a designation which looks exactly like a scientific name of an organism, and may have originally been intended to be one, but it has not been published ...

''. The species ''C. stenospondylus'' Sauvage, 1875, ''C. stenoura'' Sauvage, 1875, and ''C. chaperi'' Sauvage, 1883 are all considered synonyms of '' Pachycormus macropterus'', while ''C. cotteaui'' Sauvage, 1875 is considered a synonym of '' Euthynotus intermedius''. The species ''C. retrodorsalis'' Sauvage, 1891 has been reclassified in '' Pholidophorus''. Other species such as ''C. giganteus'' (Wagner, 1851) have been reclassified into other genera within the family Caturidae, such as '' Strobilodus''. The species ''C. brevis'' Winkler, 1862, ''C. latidens'' Woodward, 1918, and ''C. velifer'' Thiollière, 1851, are no longer classified in ''Caturus'' or even Caturidae, and are yet to be reclassified. The species ''C. insignis'' from the Triassic of Austria, formerly placed in ''Caturus'', is now placed in the genus ''

Furo , or the more common and polite form , is a Japanese bath and/or bathroom. Specifically it is a type of bath which originated as a short, steep-sided wooden bathtub A bathtub, also known simply as a bath or tub, is a container for ho ...

''. Another potential record from Argentina is now placed as an indeterminate caturoid, possibly in the genus '' Catutoichthys''.

Distribution

When restricted to only definitive species, ''Caturus'' is present in the Jurassic of the United Kingdom, Germany, the United States, and Cuba, ranging into the earliest Cretaceous of the United Kingdom and Spain. Indeterminate remains are also known within this range from the Jurassic of France and Portugal.

References

Paleobiology DatabaseSepkoski's Online Genus Database
{{Taxonbar, from=Q16999499 Caturoidea Prehistoric ray-finned fish genera Jurassic fish of Europe Jurassic fish of North America Hettangian genus first appearances Early Cretaceous fish of Europe Sinemurian genera Callovian genera Bathonian genera Oxfordian genera Tithonian genera Kimmeridgian genera Berriasian genera Valanginian genus extinctions Fossils of England Posidonia Shale Solnhofen fauna Fossils of Spain Fossils of France Fossils of Portugal Fossils of Austria Fossils of the United States Fossils of Cuba Fossil taxa described in 1843 Taxa named by Louis Agassiz