Hulettia
Temporal range:
Hulettia fossil displayed in the New Mexico Natural History Museum
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Chordata
Class:
Actinopterygii
Order:
Palaeonisciformes[1]
Genus:
Hulettia
Species:
H. americana

Hulettia is an extinct genus of ray-finned fish found in the Morrison Formation in the western United States, measuring approximately three to four inches in length. This fish genus contains one species, H. americana. Its body was covered in thick prominent scales, and its name is based on Hulett, Wyoming, a locale which is near the Morrison Formation. Discovered specimens show evidence of predation upon the smaller species of fish Todiltia that inhabited the Jurassic Lake Todilto,[2] and another specimen discovered in the Bathonian coastal sandstone, in the Sundance Formation of South Dakota. Both specimens are complete skeletons with no fragmentary remains or dubious anomalies amongst the bones recovered.[3]

Description

Hulettia reached their maximum size of 19 centimetres (7.5 in).[4] It is believed that the colossal deposits of uranium that are found in Todilto Formation and the Morrison Formation deterred other organisms from the area, and isolated the two species, protecting them from predation and trophic competition until their disappearance from the fossil record in the Cretaceous.[5]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Palaeonisciformes". Paleobiology Database. Retrieved November 17, 2012.
  2. ↑ http://nmnaturalhistory.org/hulettia.html Archived 2014-09-08 at the Wayback Machine New Mexico Museum of Natural History, 1999
  3. ↑ C. R. Eastman. 1899. Jurassic fishes from Black Hills of South Dakota. Geological Society America Bulletin 10:397-408 9/22/14
  4. ↑ Cavin, Lionel; Piuz, André; Ferrante, Christophe; Guinot, Guillaume (2021-06-03). "Giant Mesozoic coelacanths (Osteichthyes, Actinistia) reveal high body size disparity decoupled from taxic diversity". Scientific Reports. 11 (1): 11812. doi:10.1038/s41598-021-90962-5. ISSN 2045-2322. PMC 8175595. PMID 34083600.
  5. ↑ https://nmgs.nmt.edu/publications/guidebooks/downloads/54/54_p0179_p0189.pdf New Mexico Geological Society Guidebook, 54th Field Conference, Geology of the Zuni Plateau, 2003, p. 179-189.
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