Morrolepis

Morrolepis
Temporal range: Late Jurassic-earliest Cretaceous
~163.5–140.0 Ma
Morrolepis schaefferi fossil
Morrolepis aniscowitchi fossil
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Family: †Coccolepididae
Genus: †Morrolepis
Kirkland, 1998
Type species
†Morrolepis schaefferi
Kirkland, 1998
Other species
  • †M. andrewsi (Woodward, 1891)
  • †M. aniscowitchi (Gorizdor-Kulczycka, 1926)

Morrolepis is an extinct genus of prehistoric coccolepidid "palaeoniscoid" ray-finned fish that lived during the Late Jurassic and earliest Cretaceous epochs in Europe, Asia and North America.

The type species is Morrolepis schaefferi from the Morrison Formation (Colorado, Utah), measuring approximately 20 centimetres (7.9 in) in length. The other species were previously referred to the genus Coccolepis. Including M. andrewsi (Woodward, 1891) from the earliest Cretaceous (Berriasian) Purbeck Group, England and M. aniscowitchi (Gorizdor-Kulczycka, 1926) from the late Middle Jurassic-early Late Jurassic (Callovian/Oxfordian) Karabastau Formation of Kazakhstan.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Skrzycka, Roksana (2014). "Revision of two relic actinopterygians from the Middle or Upper Jurassic Karabastau Formation, Karatau Range, Kazakhstan". Alcheringa: An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology. 38 (3): 364–390. doi:10.1080/03115518.2014.880267. S2CID 129308632.
  2. ↑ Kirkland, James Ian (1998). "Morrison fishes". Modern Geology. 22: 503–533.