Harpagofututor

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Harpagofututor Fossil range: Mississippian
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Infraphylum: Gnathostomata Class: Chondrichthyes Order: Chondrenchelyiformes Genus: Harpagofututor
Species
H. volsellorhinus

Harpagofututor is an extinct genus of cartilaginous fish from the Mississippian of North America.

It was an eel-shaped fish with almost no scales. About eight inches long, it swam with some help from its fins, but also relied on whole-body locomotion to move. The fish also had teeth sufficinet for eating shellfish.^[1]

The Harpagofututor is thought to be related to the cochliodonts, chimaeroids, and Chondrenchelys problematica.^[2]

The fish was discovered in the 1980s in Montana's Bear Gulch area by Adelphia University palentologist Richard Lund, who has been exploring the limestone formations of the region since 1969. ^{[3] [4]} The area was thought to be the location of a shallow bay. Fish remains are found throughout the area. Further examinations of the soft tissue pigments of these fossilized remains led to more information about the fish and information about its internal organs, including its reproductive system. ^[5]

[edit] Sources

• http://www.sju.edu/research/bear_gulch/pages_fish_species/Harpagofututor_volsellorhinus.php
• Aquagenesis: The Origin and Evolution of Life in the Sea by Richard Ellis
• The Rise of Fishes: 500 Million Years of Evolution by John A. Long

[edit] References