How did Xiphactinus go extinct?

How did Xiphactinus go extinct?

The larger fish apparently died soon after eating its prey, most likely owing to the smaller fish prey’s struggling and rupturing an organ as it was being swallowed. This fossil can be seen at the Sternberg Museum of Natural History in Hays, Kansas.

How big can a Xiphactinus get?

A 13-foot-long (4-meter-long) Xiphactinus could open its jaw wide enough to swallow six-foot-long (two-meter-long) fish whole, but it itself was occasionally prey to the shark Cretoxyrhina.

When did the Xiphactinus live?

Lived: Late Cretaceous, 87-65 million years ago.

Who discovered Xiphactinus?

In fact, it was first discovered in Kansas and named by Professor Leidy in 1870. Its name means “sword ray.” Dozens of complete Xiphactinus, some over 20 feet long has been recovered along with numerous partial skeletons and thousands of fossil vertebrae.

Is Xiphactinus still alive?

Xiphactinus (from Latin and Greek for “sword-ray”) is an extinct genus of large (5.1 metres (16.7 ft)) predatory marine bony fish that lived during the Late Cretaceous (Albian to Maastrichtian). When alive, the fish would have resembled a gargantuan, fanged tarpon (to which it was, however, not related).

Is Xiphactinus a shark?

Xiphactinus (name meaning “Swift Shark”), often nicknamed the “Bulldog Fish”, is a genus of large predatory bony fish that originated during the Late Cretaceous period in what is now North America, Europe, and Australia.

How large is a mosasaurus?

Even for a prehistoric marine reptile, 40-80 meters is absurdly big. That said, the real Mosasaurus was indeed a large animal, with the biggest specimen known estimated to be around 17 meters or 56 feet long (Grigoriev, 2014).

How do you say Titanichthys?

Meet Titanichthys (pronounced tie-tan-ICK-theez).

How do you pronounce dunkleosteus?

Yay dun-kel-os-tee-us! Here at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, where David Dunkle once worked, we pronounce it Dun-kul-os-tee-us. The genus was named explicitly to honor his work on fossil fishes, and we have a massive collection of Dunkleosteus specimens.

What kind of Ocean did Xiphactinus audax live in?

Xiphactinus trolled an ancient ocean called the Western Interior Seaway, which covered much of central North America during the Cretaceous. Though long extinct, if alive today the bony fish would look like a giant, fanged tarpon.

What kind of teeth does Xiphactinus audax have?

Unlucky fish and unsuspecting seabirds were snared inside Xiphactinus’s upturned jaw, which was lined with giant, fanglike teeth, giving it an expression akin to that of a bulldog.

What kind of prey did Xiphactinus audax eat?

Xiphactinus audax was a voracious predator fish. At least dozen specimens have been collected the remains of large, undigested or partially digested prey in their stomachs.

How big is the largest Xiphactinus audax Leidy?

LEFT: One of the largest Xiphactinus audaxknown (17 feet long) – Early Santonian age, Smoky Hill Chalk Formation, Gove County, KS. Discovered by Mike Everhart, 1996. Collected, prepared and displayed by Triebold Paleontology.