| Xiphactinus | |
|---|---|
| |
| Mounted skeleton of X. audax at the American Museum of Natural History | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | †Ichthyodectiformes |
| Family: | †Ichthyodectidae |
| Subfamily: | †Ichthyodectinae |
| Genus: | †Xiphactinus Leidy, 1870 |
| Type species | |
| †Xiphactinus audax Leidy, 1870
| |
| Species[1] | |
| |
| Synonyms | |
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Xiphactinus (from Latin and Greek for "sword-ray"), colloquially referred to as the X-fish, is an extinct genus of large predatory marine bony fish that lived during the late Albian to the late Maastrichtian.[4] The genus grew up to 5–6 metres (16–20 ft) in length, and superficially resembled a gargantuan, fanged tarpon.[1][5]
The species Portheus molossus described by Cope is a junior synonym of X. audax. Skeletal remains of Xiphactinus have come from the Carlile Shale and Greenhorn Limestone of Kansas (where the first Xiphactinus fossil was discovered during the 1850s in the Niobrara Chalk),[6][7] and Cretaceous formations all over the East Coast (most notably Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina, and New Jersey) in the United States,[6][3] as well as Europe, Australia,[8] the Kanguk and Ashville Formations of Canada,[6] La Luna Formation of Venezuela and the Salamanca Formation in Argentina.[6][4][9]
- ^ a b Vavrek, M.J.; Murray, A.M.; Bell, P.R. (2016). "Xiphactinus audax Leidy, 1870 from the Puskwaskau Formation (Santonian to Campanian) of northwestern Alberta, Canada and the distribution of Xiphactinus in North America". Vertebrate Anatomy Morphology Palaeontology. 1 (1): 89–100. doi:10.18435/B5H596.
- ^ Bardack, D. (1965). "Anatomy and evolution of chirocentrid fishes". The University of Kansas Paleontological Contributions. 10: 1–88. hdl:1808/3814.
- ^ a b Schwimmer, David R.; Stewart, J. D.; Williams, G. Dent (1997). "Xiphactinus vetus and the Distribution of Xiphactinus Species in the Eastern United States". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 17 (3): 610–15. Bibcode:1997JVPal..17..610S. doi:10.1080/02724634.1997.10011007. JSTOR 4523841.
- ^ a b De Pasqua, Julieta J.; Agnolin, Federico L.; Bogan, Sergio (2020). "First record of the ichthyodectiform fish Xiphactinus (Teleostei) from Patagonia, Argentina". Alcheringa: An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology. 44 (2): 327–331. Bibcode:2020Alch...44..327D. doi:10.1080/03115518.2019.1702221. S2CID 216170146.
- ^ Lionel Cavin; Peter L. Forey; Samuel Giersch (2013). "Osteology of Eubiodectes libanicus (Pictet & Humbert, 1866) and some other ichthyodectiformes (Teleostei): phylogenetic implications". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 11 (2): 115–177. doi:10.1080/14772019.2012.691559. S2CID 83807640.
- ^ a b c d Xiphactinus at Fossilworks.org
- ^ Haines, Tim; Chambers, Paul (2005). The complete guide to prehistoric life (First ed.). Buffalo, N.Y.: Firefly Books. p. 134. ISBN 978-1-55407-181-4.
The first Xiphactinus fossil was found during the 1850s in Kansas.
- ^ Vavrek, Matthew J.; Murray, Alison M.; Bell, Phil R. (2016-02-04). "Xiphactinus audax Leidy 1870 from the Puskwaskau Formation (Santonian to Campanian) of northwestern Alberta, Canada and the distribution of Xiphactinus in North America". Vertebrate Anatomy Morphology Palaeontology. 1: 89. doi:10.18435/B5H596.
- ^ Carrillo-Briceño, J., Alvarado-Ortega, J. & Torres, C. (2012). Primer registro de Xiphactinus Leidy, 1870, (Teleostei: Ichthyodectiformes) en el Cretácico Superior de América del Sur (Formación La Luna, Venezuela). Revista Brasileira de Paleontologia 15(3):327-335
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