Eolactoria

Eolactoria
Temporal range: Lutetian[1]
Artist's reconstruction
fossil
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
Superclass: Osteichthyes
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Tetraodontiformes
Family: Ostraciidae
Genus: Eolactoria
Species: E. sorbinii
Binomial name
Eolactoria sorbinii
Tyler 1976

Eolactoria sorbinii is an extinct prehistoric boxfish that lived during the Lutetian epoch of the middle Eocene, in Monte Bolca.[1] It had two pairs of long spines, one over each eye, and one pair beneath the anal and caudal fins, arranged very similarly to those possessed by the modern genus Lactoria (e.g., "cowfish"), but were, in comparison, much longer. E. sorbinii had a 5th spine between the two eye-spines, arranged and looking very much like a nose.

The only known fossil specimen is about 5 centimeters in length.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Sepkoski, Jack (2002). "A compendium of fossil marine animal genera". Bulletins of American Paleontology 364: 560. Retrieved 2009-02-27.
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