fossil gars?

[demjor19]

a short while ago i bought a fossil ganoid scale and was curious...what possible gar species could this have been from? were any of the "modern day" gar species alive back then? i know a few of you guys are really into fossiles and such.

thanks,

 

[Polypterus]

Have any idea where the Fossil scale came from and from what deposit??? This could narrow a possible species or Genera...

Both Atractosteus and Lepisosteus date to the late cretaceous so it could be either.

(Ooops I used three big smart words... let me know if you need me to rewrite this into retard speak )

 

[demjor19]

Have any idea where the Fossil scale came from and from what deposit??? This could narrow a possible species or Genera...

Both Atractosteus and Lepisosteus date to the late cretaceous so it could be either.

(Ooops I used three big smart words... let me know if you need me to rewrite this into retard speak )

i believe it was collected from Hells Creek in South Dakota. Were the Lepisosteus and Atractosteus species the same seven species that exist today, or were there some different ones?

i think i understand you and your big words...

 

[Mystus Redtail]

(Ooops I used three big smart words... let me know if you need me to rewrite this into retard speak )

 

[Polypterus]

i believe it was collected from Hells Creek in South Dakota. Were the Lepisosteus and Atractosteus species the same seven species that exist today, or were there some different ones?

i think i understand you and your big words...

Jordan,
Those from the Hells creek formation are normally attributed to A. occidentalis or L. opertus.. (in earlier layers of the late cretaceous of which scales are very abundant ).

Both of these fish are rough equivalents to the A. Spatula and L. Platostomus of today but are different enough to distinguish themselves. Most fossils are fragments only of these fish, but some jaws have been linked with scales,Skull fragments,finrays and backbone material. It is from the jaws remains that the links to the Modern L. platostomus and A. spatula exist.

(Again just let me know if I need to retard translate my post.. after all some seem to have issue with being exact and competent in what is said)

Reference for the above is: E. O. Wiley, The Phylogeny and Biogeography
of Fossil and Recent Gars (Actinopterygii: Lepisosteidae) UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS miscellaneous
MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY publication 1976, No. 64

 

[demjor19]

Jordan,
Those from the Hells creek formation are normally attributed to A. occidentalis or L. opertus.. (in earlier layers of the late cretaceous of which scales are very abundant ).

Both of these fish are rough equivalents to the A. Spatula and L. Platostomus of today but are different enough to distinguish themselves. Most fossils are fragments only of these fish, but some jaws have been linked with scales,Skull fragments,finrays and backbone material. It is from the jaws remains that the links to the Modern L. platostomus and A. spatula exist.

(Again just let me know if I need to retard translate my post.. after all some seem to have issue with being exact and competent in what is said)

Reference for the above is E. O. Wiley, The Phylogeny and Biogeography
of Fossil and Recent Gars (Actinopterygii: Liepisosteidae) UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS miscellaneous
MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY publication 1976, No. 64

very cool. were these gar comparable in size to todays gator or shortnose gar (tart terms) or were they larger/smaller?

 

[Polypterus]

very cool. were these gar comparable in size to todays gator or shortnose gar (tart terms) or were they larger/smaller?

Sorry no clue on that one... I've never seen anything that estimates their size and I have personally not seen enough fossil remains to make an educated guess on my own.

 

[demjor19]

Sorry no clue on that one... I've never seen anything that estimates their size and I have personally not seen enough fossil remains to make an educated guess on my own.

i guess that would be asking a little too much...i mean there really isn't even that much info on the species existing today, let alone the extinct ones. thanks for the info though. it has just been bothering me (trying to figure out what species it may have been from).