Protosphyraena

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Protosphyraena Temporal range: Cretaceous, Albian–Maastrichtian[1] PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Skull and pectoral fin fossils of Protosphyraena
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	†Pachycormiformes
Family:	†Pachycormidae
Genus:	†Protosphyraena Leidy, 1857
Type species
†Protosphyraena ferox Leidy, 1857
Species[1]
†P. ferox (type) †P. bentoniana †P. compressirostris †P. gibberula †P. hurleyi? †P. nitida †P. perniciosa †P. sequax †P. spectabilis †P. tenuis †P. terminalis
Synonyms
Australopachycormus? Ptychodus arcuatus Ptychodus gibberulus Ptychodus spectabilis Saurocephalus striatus Protosphyraena terminata[1] (lapsus calami)

Protosphyraena is a fossil genus of swordfish-like marine fish, that thrived worldwide during the Cretaceous period (Albian-Maastrichtian). Fossil remains of this taxon are mainly discovered in North America and Europe, and potential specimens are also known from Asia, Africa and Australia.^[1] Its fossils are best known from the Smoky Hill Member of the Niobrara Chalk Formation of Kansas (Late Coniacian-Early Campanian).

Protosphyraena was a large fish, averaging 2–3 metres (6.6–9.8 ft) in length. Protosphyraena shared the Cretaceous oceans with aquatic reptiles, such as mosasaurs and plesiosaurs, as well as with many other species of extinct predatory fish. The name Protosphyraena is a combination of the Greek word protos ("early") plus Sphyraena, the genus name for barracuda, as paleontologists initially mistook Protosphyraena for an ancestral barracuda. Recent research shows that the genus Protosphyraena is not at all related to the true swordfish-family Xiphiidae, but belongs to the extinct family Pachycormidae.