Rhinconichthys
Extinct genus of fishes
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Rhinconichthys is an extinct genus of bony fish which existed during the Cenomanian stage of the Late Cretaceous.[2]
| Rhinconichthys Temporal range: | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | †Pachycormiformes |
| Family: | †Pachycormidae |
| Subfamily: | †Asthenocorminae |
| Genus: | †Rhinconichthys Friedman et al., 2010 |
| Species | |
Along with its close cousins the great-white-shark-sized or larger Bonnerichthys and the immense Leedsichthys, Rhinconichthys forms a line of giant filter-feeding bony pachycormid fish that swam the Jurassic and Cretaceous seas for over 100 million years.
Etymology
The generic name was chosen as a homophone of an unpublished name (“Rhynchonichthys”) coined by Gideon Mantell, and is meant to evoke the generic name of the whale shark, Rhincodon. [2]
Description
Rhinconichthys was a medium-sized fish. R. uyenoi grew to around 3.4–4.5 metres (11–15 ft) long, while R. purgatoirensis was much smaller, around 2–2.7 metres (6.6–8.9 ft) long.[1]
