rekordy: Alligator gar

Evidence: 100 • authority: 72

The alligator gar (Atractosteus spatula) is a euryhaline ray-finned fish in the clade Ginglymodi of the infraclass Holostei , being most closely related to the bowfins. It is the largest species in the gar family (Lepisosteidae), and is among the largest freshwater fishes in North America. The fossil record traces its group's existence back to the Early Cretaceous over 100 million years ago. Gars are often referred to as "primitive fishes" or "living fossils", because they have retained some morphological characteristics of their early ancestors, such as a spiral valve intestine, which is also common to the digestive system of sharks, and the ability to breathe in both air and water. Their…

Evidence: 38 • authority: 80

Traces of fire in the archaeological record, before one million years ago?

Evidence: 30 • authority: 80

Fossil teeth reveal new facts about a mass extinction 260 million years ago

Evidence: 30 • authority: 80

The first fossil thrips in Africa: this tiny insect pest met its end in a volcanic lake 90 million years ago

Evidence: 30 • authority: 80

Pandas may have had ‘thumbs’ as early as 7 million years ago

Evidence: 30 • authority: 80

Ancient fish fossil suggests ‘living skeletons’ evolved 460 million years ago

Evidence: — • authority: 72

This is an incomplete list that briefly describes vertebrates that were extant during the Campanian, a stage of the Late Cretaceous Period which extended from 83.6 to 72.1 million years before present. Animals that lived in the Campanian include:

Evidence: — • authority: 72

A living fossil is a term for an extant taxon that phenotypically resembles related species known only from the fossil record, though scientifically the term is deprecated and avoided. To be considered a living fossil, the fossil species must be old relative to the time of origin of the extant clade. Living fossils commonly are of species-poor lineages, but they need not be. While the body plan of a living fossil remains superficially similar, it is never the same species as the remote relatives it resembles, because genetic drift would inevitably change its chromosomal structure. Living fossils exhibit stasis (also called "bradytely") over geologically long time scales. Popular literature…

Evidence: — • authority: 72

An alligator, or colloquially gator, is a large reptile in the genus Alligator of the family Alligatoridae in the order Crocodilia. The two extant species are the American alligator (A. mississippiensis) and the Chinese alligator (A. sinensis). Additionally, several extinct species of alligator are known from fossil remains. Alligators first appeared during the late Eocene epoch about 37 million years ago. The term "alligator" is likely an anglicized form of el lagarto, Spanish for "the lizard", which early Spanish explorers and settlers in Florida called the alligator. Early English spellings of the name included allagarta and alagarto. Alligators are notable for their ability to inhabit c…

Evidence: — • authority: 72

Gars are an ancient group of ray-finned fish in the family Lepisosteidae. They comprise seven living species of fish in two genera that inhabit fresh, brackish, and occasionally marine waters of eastern North America, Central America and Cuba in the Caribbean, though extinct members of the family were more widespread. They are the only surviving members of the Ginglymodi, a clade of fish which first appeared during the Triassic period, over 240 million years ago, and are one of only two surviving groups of holosteian fish, alongside the bowfins, which have a similar distribution. Gars have elongated bodies that are heavily armored with ganoid scales, and fronted by similarly elongated jaws…

Evidence: — • authority: 88

An Early Cretaceous Record of the Mawsoniid Coelacanth Axelrodichthys from Niger. Coelacanths in the Family Mawsoniidae include ten genera with a primarily Gondwanan distribution. Two of the genera—Mawsonia and Axelrodichthys—show a related biogeographic pattern of occurrences in the Cretaceous of Brazil and Africa. This report documents the presence of Axelrodichthys in the Early Cretaceous of Niger based on a partial skull roof and partial extrascapular series from the Aptian ‘Fish Mountain’ site at Ingal (or Ingall) in central western Niger. Assignment of the specimen to Axelrodichthys is based on the presence of a median extrascapular along the posterior margin of the skull roof, an ele…