Oncorhynchus rastrosus

Oncorhynchus rastrosus (synonym Smilodonichthys rastrosus[2]) also known as the sabertooth salmon,[3] is an extinct species of salmon that lived along the Pacific coast of North America, first appearing in the late Miocene in California, then dying out some time during the Early Pliocene.[1] Adults grew to be 2.7 m (9 ft) in length and are believed to have been anadromous like their living relatives. Besides being the largest member of the Pacific salmon genus Oncorhynchus, members of this species had a pair of small "fangs" protruding from the tip of the snout, thus explaining the common name and synonym. Beyond their fangs, adults of O. rastrosus had larger gill rakers compared to their smaller, modern relatives, leading scientists to suggest that the adults ate plankton.[4]

Oncorhynchus rastrostus
Temporal range: Clarendonian-Hemphillian,[1] 12–5 Ma
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Chordata
Class:
Actinopterygii
Order:
Salmoniformes
Family:
Salmonidae
Genus:
Oncorhynchus
Species:
†O. rastrosus
Binomial name
†Oncorhynchus rastrosus
(Cavender & Miller, 1972)
Synonyms

Smilodonichthys rastrosus

References
  1. Sankey, Julia; Biewer, Jacob; Basuga, Janis; Palacios, Francisco; Wagner, Hugh (2016). "The giant, spike-toothed salmon, Oncorhynchus rastrosus and the "Proto-Tuolumne River" (early Pliocene) of Central California". PaleoBios. 33: 1–16.
  2. Cavender, T., & Miller, R. R. (1972). Smilodonichthys rastrosus: A new Pliocene salmonid fish from Western United States. Museum of Natural History, University of Oregon.
  3. "Saber-toothed Salmon", The Museum of Natural and Cultural History, University of Oregon, archived from the original on 2016-06-24, retrieved 2012-04-27
  4. Thomas P. Eiting, Gerald R. Smith, Miocene salmon (Oncorhynchus) from Western North America: Gill Raker evolution correlated with plankton productivity in the Eastern Pacific, Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, Volume 249, Issues 3–4, 19 June 2007, Pages 412-424, ISSN 0031-0182


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