Rhinconichthys

Rhinconichthys Temporal range: Cretaceous PreЄ Є O S D C P T J K Pg N
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	†Pachycormiformes
Family:	†Pachycormidae
Genus:	†Rhinconichthys Friedman et al., 2010
Species
†R. taylori Friedman et al., 2010 †R. purgatoirensis Schumacher et al., 2016[1] †R. uyenoi Schumacher et al., 2016[1]

Rhinconichthys is an extinct species of bony fish which existed during the upper Cretaceous period.^[2]

Along with its close cousins the great-white-shark-sized or larger Bonnerichthys and the immense Leedsichthys, Rhinconichthys forms a line of giant filter-feeding bony pachycormid fish that swam the Jurassic and Cretaceous seas for over 100 million years.

Description

Rhinconichthys was a medium sized fish. R.uyenoi grew to around 3.4-4.5 meters, while R.purgatoriensis was much smaller, around 2-2.7 meters.^[3]

References

1. Bruce Schumacher, Kenshu Shimada, Jeff Liston, Anthony Maltese (2016). "Highly specialized suspension-feeding bony fish Rhinconichthys (Actinopterygii: Pachycormiformes) from the mid-Cretaceous of the United States, England, and Japan". Cretaceous Research 61: 71–85. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2015.12.017.
2. Matt Friedman, Kenshu Shimada, Larry D. Martin, Michael J. Everhart, Jeff Liston, Anthony Maltese & Michael Triebold (2010). "100-million-year dynasty of giant planktivorous bony fishes in the Mesozoic seas". Science 327 (5968): 990–993. doi:10.1126/science.1184743. PMID 20167784.
3. http://www.techtimes.com/articles/131855/20160209/ancient-fish-rhinconichthys-used-big-mouth-to-swallow-planktons-in-cretaceous-period-oceans.htm