''Saurorhynchus'' is an

extinct Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

carnivorous A carnivore , or meat-eater (Latin, ''caro'', genitive ''carnis'', meaning meat or "flesh" and ''vorare'' meaning "to devour"), is an animal or plant whose nutrition and energy requirements are met by consumption of animal tissues (mainly mu ...

bony fish Osteichthyes ( ; ), also known as osteichthyans or commonly referred to as the bony fish, is a Biodiversity, diverse clade of vertebrate animals that have endoskeletons primarily composed of bone tissue. They can be contrasted with the Chondricht ...

that lived during the

Early Early may refer to: Places in the United States * Early, Iowa, a city * Early, Texas, a city * Early Branch, a stream in Missouri * Early County, Georgia * Fort Early, Georgia, an early 19th century fort Music * Early B, stage name of Jamaican d ...

and

Middle Jurassic The Middle Jurassic is the second Epoch (geology), epoch of the Jurassic Period (geology), Period. It lasted from about 174.1 to 161.5 million years ago. Fossils of land-dwelling animals, such as dinosaurs, from the Middle Jurassic are relativel ...

epochs In chronology and periodization, an epoch or reference epoch is an instant in time chosen as the origin of a particular calendar era. The "epoch" serves as a reference point from which time is measured. The moment of epoch is usually decided by ...

. Fossils have been found in Europe (France, Belgium, Luxembourg, United Kingdom, Germany, Italy) and North America (Canada). It is commonly found in

pelagic The pelagic zone consists of the water column of the open ocean and can be further divided into regions by depth. The word ''pelagic'' is derived . The pelagic zone can be thought of as an imaginary cylinder or water column between the sur ...

and lagoonal deposits, but mostly marine. Largest specimens can grow up to . Four Jurassic species are recognized. In addition, the

Late Triassic The Late Triassic is the third and final epoch (geology), epoch of the Triassic geologic time scale, Period in the geologic time scale, spanning the time between annum, Ma and Ma (million years ago). It is preceded by the Middle Triassic Epoch a ...

species '' Saurichthys striolatus'', '' Saurichthys calcaratus'', and '' Saurichthys deperditus'' are sometimes referred to ''Saurorhynchus'', although ''Saurorhynchus'' is then treated as a

subgenus In biology, a subgenus ( subgenera) is a taxonomic rank directly below genus. In the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, a subgeneric name can be used independently or included in a species name, in parentheses, placed between the ge ...

of ''Saurichthys''. ''Saurorhynchus'' is the youngest representative of the family

Saurichthyidae Saurichthyiformes is an extinct order of ray-finned fish which existed in Asia, Africa, Australia, Europe and North America, during the late Permian to early Middle Jurassic. Saurichthyiiformes comprise two families, Saurichthyidae and Y ...

and the order

Saurichthyiformes Saurichthyiformes is an extinct order (biology), order of Actinopterygii, ray-finned fish which existed in Asia, Africa, Australia (continent), Australia, Europe and North America, during the late Permian to early Middle Jurassic. Saurichthy ...

. This family is known for its large, elongate jaws, similar to modern

Belonidae Needlefish (Family (biology), family Belonidae) or long toms are piscivorous bony fish, fishes primarily associated with very shallow marine habitats or the surface of the open sea. Some genera include species found in marine, brackish, and fre ...

. Saurichthyidae also includes the

Permian The Permian ( ) is a geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system which spans 47 million years, from the end of the Carboniferous Period million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Triassic Period 251.902 Mya. It is the s ...

genus ''

Eosaurichthys ''Eosaurichthys'' ("dawn ''Saurichthys''") is an extinct genus, or potentially subgenus, of marine saurichthyidae, saurichthyid ray-finned fish that lived during the late Permian epoch (geology), epoch (Changhsingian age) to potentially the Early ...

'' and the

Triassic The Triassic ( ; sometimes symbolized 🝈) is a geologic period and system which spans 50.5 million years from the end of the Permian Period 251.902 million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Jurassic Period 201.4 Mya. The Triassic is t ...

genus ''

Saurichthys ''Saurichthys'' (from , 'lizard' and 'fish') is an extinct genus of predatory Actinopterygii, ray-finned fish from the Triassic period (geology), Period. It is the type genus of the family (taxonomy), family Saurichthyidae (Changhsingian-Ju ...

''.

References

Early Jurassic fish Jurassic fish of Europe Jurassic bony fish Prehistoric ray-finned fish genera Saurichthyiformes {{Jurassic-fish-stub

See also

References