Tuesday’s #megafauna is xiphactinus, a #fish that lived between 112 and 65 million years ago. At up to 20 feet long, it is one of the largest bony fish to ever have lived. Its long, slender body would have allowed it to travel at high speeds, reaching 37 miles per hour. Its fanlike pectoral fins and large tail fin made it a powerful swimmer, capable of leaping from the water (like modern-day dolphins.) This has led to speculation that #xiphactinus could prey on pterosaurs by snatching them from the sky.

Whether or not the behemoth fish ate pterosaurs, it was definitely a voracious predator. Its sharp teeth and large size would have allowed it to feed on many smaller animals in the ocean, including fish, turtles, and even young mosasaurs. In one of the images below, a 13-foot-long xiphactinus skeleton contains the 6-foot long skeleton of a smaller fish–its last meal. However, another image shows a xiphactinus skeleton within the remains of a large shark--also xiphactinus's last meal, in a sense. Despite its appetite, xiphactinus was not an apex predator of the inland sea, and did sometimes fall prey to other, more vicious megafauna.

Exasperated #Xiphactinus for #fossilfriday (Senckenberg Museum, Frankfurt). Have a nice weekend, #paleobubble !

I missed #FossilFriday again but maybe #ShotOfLabSaturday can be a thing? #fossil #ichthyosaur #xiphactinus #laboratory

And there it is printed!
#Xiphactinus

#Xiphactinus is ready to print, I saw a fossil of one of these in Pittsburgh and it was very impressive. I'd like to do more extinct #fish, there's only so many mackerels I can make.

#fishart #linocut #printmaking #paleoart

Merry Christmas to everyone except this stupid Xiphactinus in particular

#Xiphactinus