Rhizodontida

Rhizodontida
Temporal range: late Middle Devonian (Givetian) - Pennsylvanian
A fossil of Sauripterus taylori
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Sarcopterygii
Clade: Tetrapodomorpha
Class: Rhizodontida
Order: Rhizodontiformes
Andrews & Westoll, 1970
Genera

Rhizodontida is an extinct group of predatory tetrapodomorphs[3] known from many areas of the world from the Givetian through to the Pennsylvanian - the earliest known species is about 377 million years ago (Mya), the latest around 310 Mya. Rhizodonts lived in tropical rivers and freshwater lakes and were the dominant predators of their age. They reached huge sizes - the largest known species, Rhizodus hibberti from Europe and North America, was an estimated 7 m in length, making it the largest freshwater fish known.

  1. ^ Johanson, Z.; Jeffery, J.; Challands, T.; E. Pierce, S.; Clack, J. A. (2020). "A New Look at Carboniferous Rhizodontid Humeri (Sarcopterygii; Tetrapodomorpha)". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 40 (3): e1813150. Bibcode:2020JVPal..40E3150J. doi:10.1080/02724634.2020.1813150. S2CID 227241079.
  2. ^ a b Coates, M. I.; Friedman, M. (2010). "Litoptychus bryanti and characteristics of stem tetrapod neurocrania". Morphology, Phylogeny and Paleobiogeography of Fossil Fishes: 389–416.
  3. ^ Clack, Jennifer A. (2012). Gaining Ground: The Origin and Evolution of Tetrapods. Indiana University Press. p. 75. ISBN 978-0-253-35675-8. Retrieved 19 May 2015.