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The Mesozoic Fish Thread- (minus sharks)

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  • Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators Posts: 5,279 Mod ✭✭✭✭Adam Khor


    New estimates suggest it was not as big as what we saw in WWD's special on sea monsters, but it was still bigger than any modern fish.

    (This is not really new, I remember reading it in NG magazine a while ago, but interesting read all the same)

    http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/08/130827-paleontology-leedsichthys-problematicus-fish-oceans-science/

    640px-SM1x3_Leedsichthys.jpg


  • Registered Users Posts: 30,746 ✭✭✭✭Galvasean


    Does this mean that megalodon was arguably bigger?


  • Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators Posts: 5,279 Mod ✭✭✭✭Adam Khor


    Yeah, actually D:

    Guess its the biggest bony fish, tho.


  • Registered Users Posts: 25,560 ✭✭✭✭Kess73


    Also means the modern day Whale shark may be bigger as it is thought that they did/do grow much larger than the largest measured specimen which was just over 40 feet in length.


  • Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators Posts: 5,279 Mod ✭✭✭✭Adam Khor


    Kess73 wrote: »
    Also means the modern day Whale shark may be bigger as it is thought that they did/do grow much larger than the largest measured specimen which was just over 40 feet in length.

    Very true, but then again chances that we have the biggest Leedsichthys specimens ever are very, very slim, so it could also be that Leedsichthys could grow just as large...


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  • Registered Users Posts: 25,560 ✭✭✭✭Kess73


    Adam Khor wrote: »
    Very true, but then again chances that we have the biggest Leedsichthys specimens ever are very, very slim, so it could also be that Leedsichthys could grow just as large...


    Same arguement could be made for us never having seen the largest whale sharks that have been. But we do know for a fact that they can defo grow to at least 41 or so feet.


    Either way we are talking about very large fish in either case. :)


  • Registered Users Posts: 30,746 ✭✭✭✭Galvasean


    A lot of modern animals have larger specimens in their fossil record (Oronoko crocodiles for example) so it's quite possible that the largest whale sharks can be found there (or not found - damn cartilage).


  • Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators Posts: 5,279 Mod ✭✭✭✭Adam Khor




  • Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators Posts: 5,279 Mod ✭✭✭✭Adam Khor


    It seemingly had the bad habit of biting chunks off other fish' fins. Lived at the same time and in the same region as Archaeopteryx and Pterodactylus.

    https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-science-piranha/in-toothy-prequel-piranha-like-fish-menaced-jurassic-seas-idUKKCN1MS2YA

    piraajurasico-2263103.jpg&coordinates=50,50

    piranhamesodon2_2592fdc8_800x800.jpg


  • Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators Posts: 5,279 Mod ✭✭✭✭Adam Khor




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  • Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators Posts: 5,279 Mod ✭✭✭✭Adam Khor


    Hagfish are among the most important scavengers of the sea floor- they are known for the slime they use to defend themselves and for their ability to absorb nutrients directly through the skin when burrowing on whale and large fish carcasses. This one is 100 million years old so it was likely feeding on the carcasses of plesiosaurs and other sea reptiles.

    https://www.livescience.com/64548-hagfish-slime-fossil.html

    aHR0cDovL3d3dy5saXZlc2NpZW5jZS5jb20vaW1hZ2VzL2kvMDAwLzEwMy83OTMvaTAyL2hhZ2Zpc2gtc2xpbWUtZm9zc2lsLTAyPzE1NDc4NTAyNjc=


  • Registered Users Posts: 2,525 ✭✭✭Ardillaun


    Hagfish slime is truly remarkable. Here’s a story quoted in the article above:
    A truck carrying a bunch of slime eels recently crashed on the highway in Oregon, releasing a mind-boggling amount of slime and forcing the highway to close.

    The slithery creatures fell off a truck on Highway 101 in Oregon yesterday (July 13), causing a five-car crash, coating nearby cars in a Ghostbusters'-worthy amount of slime, and sending the spooked creatures slithering across the road, Oregon Live reported.

    https://www.livescience.com/59801-hagfish-slime-composition.html

    https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/01/190122125604.htm


  • Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators Posts: 5,279 Mod ✭✭✭✭Adam Khor


    I find the fact that the truck was carrying over three tons of hagfish to be killed and eaten a lot more disturbing than the mess they caused on the road. Seriously, no creature is safe...:(


  • Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators Posts: 5,279 Mod ✭✭✭✭Adam Khor


    Largest holostean fish of the Triassic, analyzed.

    https://peerj.com/articles/7184/

    fig-6-1x.jpg


  • Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators Posts: 5,279 Mod ✭✭✭✭Adam Khor


    Latest Cretaceous coelacanths grew to great white shark size, suggests fossilized lung from Morocco:

    http://www.sci-news.com/paleontology/cretaceous-coelacanth-morocco-09377.html

    jSGE0Z52oA4g6tQXOPI2d8Am1HEcL7Z-gNiuPP2-BJACJRClDLclHXE54MZlyaFxu32ExJP_3j0S3C4bQ0EpKA1QCmicUCMI8abxDlZmjnQvRrNCmp-PzrgARnKaSTBNvCDQzuyYZw


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