Pycnodus

Pycnodus (from Greek for crowded teeth) is an extinct genus of ray-finned fish ranging from the Jurassic to Eocene periods. As its name suggests, it is the type genus of Pycnodontiformes.

Pycnodus bernardi

Pycnodus
Temporal range: Mid Jurassic–Priabonian [1]
Pycnodus platessus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Chordata
Class:
Actinopterygii
Order:
Pycnodontiformes
Family:
Pycnodontidae
Genus:
Pycnodus

The known whole fossils of Pycnodus are around 12 centimetres (5 in) long, and have a superficial resemblance to angelfish or butterflyfish. The animals, as typical of all other pycnodontids, had many knob-like teeth, forming pavements in the jaws with which to break and crush hard food substances, probably mollusks and echinoderms. These teeth are the most common form of fossil.

Pycnodus fossils have been found in present-day India, Northern Africa, Belgium, England, and Italy, regions corresponding with the Tethys Ocean.[2] A specimen of the prehistoric whale, Basilosaurus isis, was found in the Eocene-aged Wadi El Hitan with stomach contents of its last meals, including a large specimen of the species P. mokattamensis along with skeletons of a smaller whale called Dorudon.[3]


References
  1. "†Pycnodus Agassiz 1835 (ray-finned fish)". PBDB.
  2. http://www.geosocindia.org/index.php/jgsi/article/view/68397
  3. Voss, Manja; Antar, Mohammed Sameh M.; Zalmout, Iyad S.; Gingerich, Philip D. (2019). "Stomach contents of the archaeocete Basilosaurus isis: Apex predator in oceans of the late Eocene". PLOS ONE. 14 (1): e0209021. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0209021. PMC 6326415. PMID 30625131.


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