Stratodus
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| Stratodus | |
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Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Aulopiformes Regan, 1911 |
| Family: | †Dercetidae (?) |
| Genus: | †Stratodus Cope, 1872 |
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| Synonyms | |
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Stratodus ("layer tooth") is a genus of giant prehistoric aulopiform fish found in Cretaceous-aged marine strata of Kansas,[1] Alabama,[2] Morocco,[3] Israel,[4] Niger,[5] South Dakota,[6] and Jordan.[7] It has also been found in the Tamaguélelt Formation of Mali, dating to the Lower Eocene, indicating that Stratodus survived the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event.[8] This sleek fish has an upper jaw filled with multiple rows of tiny teeth and was the largest aulopiform, reaching 5 metres (16 ft) in length.[9]
Stratodus was initially described by Edward Drinker Cope in Kansas during 1872, naming the type species S. apicalis, and described a second species in 1877,[1] S. oxypogon, both species being assigned to the family Stratodontidae. S. oxypogon is now often considered a synonym of S. apicalis, and the family was shifted from Stratodontidae to Dercetidae, some has gone back to Stratodontidae[9] while others support attribution to Dercetidae.[6][10]
For the 19th and 20th centuries, Stratodus was only known from poor fossils, usually of the skull. It wasn't until 2006 that a nearly complete skeleton of S. apicalis in the Upper Niobrara Formation was discovered by Dave Palmquist, along the bank of the Missouri River of Oacoma, South Dakota,[6] and other well preserved remains have subsequently been found in the Muwaqqar Chalk Marl Formation of Harrana, Jordan.[7] Marc Michaut described second species "S. indamanensis" from Mt Indamane (Mont In Daman) site in Niger in 2002, along with smaller relative named "Ministratodus".[11][9] However, the publication that described these taxa is not ascertained to be valid publication under the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature,[10] same as a turtle "Kaosaurus" Michaut described from same site.[12] Paper in 2020 considered that remains from Mt Indamane is S. apicalis or "species not verified" instead.[12] In 2019, fossils of S. apicalis were found in Mali dating to the Eocene.[8]