#gyrodus

NEW ARTWORK for Fossil Friday Here is "The Twisted Feast," commissioned by The Etches Collection. It features a bunch of fossil species from the museum and the Late Jurassic Kimmeridge Clay: a bait ball of Thrissops, Grendelius and Nannopterygius ichthyosaurs, diving Rhamphorhynchus pterosaurs, Caturus, Gyrodus, and Pachycormus fishes, a Dakosaurus croc, and three Kimmerosaurus.

Assorted fauna from the Oxford Clay for a school project.

This extinct species of fish lived during the Middle Jurassic and was a member of the order Pycnodontiformes. This order of ray-finned fish tended to have flat, circular bodies, which helped them to maneuver through the narrow nooks and crannies of coral reefs. There are currently three known species within the genus Gyrodus that each lived in different places at different times. Gyrodus hexagonus is the oldest known species and has been found in what is now Cuba and Germany. It was about 12 inches long and is believed to have been carnivorous, possibly feeding on hard-shelled creatures that it found along the reef floor. While G. hexagonus is believed to have died out sometime after the Oxfordian (the first age of the Late Jurassic), the genus Gyrodus would survive well into the Cretaceous period, making it one of the longest-lasting genera of pycnodont fish.

A scene from the Solnhofen Archipelago during the Late Jurassic featuring Orthocormus having a close encounter with the 4-5m long metriorhynchid Dakosaurus. Some Gyrodus are minding their business on the left side.

Jurassic Germany A stray Gyrodus spooks a Belemnobatis sismondae who just wanted to rest hidden. Rude.

Here are some crops from "The Twisted Feast," commissioned by The Etches Collection. It features a bunch of fossil species from the museum and the Late Jurassic Kimmeridge Clay: a bait ball of Thrissops, Grendelius and Nannopterygius ichthyosaurs, diving Rhamphorhynchus pterosaurs, Caturus, Gyrodus, and Pachycormus fishes, a Dakosaurus croc, and three Kimmerosaurus.

Here are some crops from "The Twisted Feast," commissioned by The Etches Collection. It features a bunch of fossil species from the museum and the Late Jurassic Kimmeridge Clay: a bait ball of Thrissops, Grendelius and Nannopterygius ichthyosaurs, diving Rhamphorhynchus pterosaurs, Caturus, Gyrodus, and Pachycormus fishes, a Dakosaurus croc, and three Kimmerosaurus.

I decided to redraw an old drawing I did of Marlon swimming with an Ophthalmosaurus.