| P number: | P549487 |
|---|---|
| Caption: | Apateodus, a Cretaceous fish. |
| Description: | Apateodus was one of about 40 genera of fish found in the late Cretaceous (about 65 to 98 million years ago). This ray-finned fish (a teleost) can be found as fossils in the Chalk of southern England, such as this one from Surrey. However, apart from their teeth, they are rarely found as fossils. The photograph shows the head of Apateodus. It had large eyes and a set of sharp teeth and must have been a ferocious predator. The teeth are often found in the Chalk. It had two enlarged fangs on the palatine and two at the tip of the lower jaw. These were triangular in shape with razor-sharp edges so that they could slice through the flesh of its prey. Well-preserved specimens of Apateodus teeth have striations along the edge. Fish are cold-blooded vertebrates with a braincase, fins for swimming and gills to take oxygen from the water (although some also have lungs). They therefore differ from other aquatic creatures like invertebrate molluscs or crabs; amphibians and reptiles, which have lungs and limbs rather than gills and fins; and whales and dolphins which are warm-blooded mammals. Fish are the first vertebrates, having evolved during the early Cambrian over 500 million years ago. |
| Photographer: | Unknown |
| Copyright statement: | NERC |
| Orientation: | Landscape |
| Size: | 399.42 KB; 1000 x 606 pixels; 85 x 51 mm (print at 300 DPI); 265 x 160 mm (screen at 96 DPI); |
| Average Rating: | Not yet rated |
| Categories: | Best of BGS Images/ Fossils |
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