Name:
Aquilolamna
(eagle shark).
Phonetic: Ah-kwil-o-lam-nah.
Named By: Romain Vullo, Eberhard Frey, Christina
Ifrim, Margarito A. Gonz�lez Gonz�lez, Eva S. Stinnesbeck
& Wolfgang Stinnesbeck - 2021.
Classification: Chordata, Chondrichthyes,
Lamniformes?, Aquilolamnidae.
Species: A. milarcae (type).
Diet: Planktivore/Filter feeder.
Size: Holotype about 1.6 meters long, 1.9
meters wide between tips of pectoral fins.
Known locations: Mexico - Agua Nueva Formation.
Time period: Turonian of the Cretaceous.
Fossil representation: Almost complete individual
preserved on slab.
Aquilolamna
is a genus of fish confirmed to have lived in the ocean around Mexico
during the late Cretaceous. The name Aquilolamna
means ‘eagle
shark’, a reference to the long ‘wings’ formed by the pectoral
fins and the general shark-like body. However, at the time of the
naming of the genus, Aquilolamna was only
tentatively placed with the
sharks as key anatomical features to prove or disprove a link to sharks
such as teeth were yet to be discovered and described.
In
general Aquilolamna had a long round body, wide
mouth and large
pectoral fins. Pectoral fins are basically like hydrofoils and large
fins are commonly seen in fast swimming fish. It is uncertain though
if Aquilolamna was a fast swimmer, it could just
as likely be that
the enlarged pectoral fins allowed for energy efficient swimming, a
real bonus if Aquilolamna was a planktonic filter
feeder as is
popularly thought. Many sharks, rays and other types of fish are
known to be dedicated plankton feeders, and the evolution of
Aquilolamna does seem to be convergent with these in
terms of
ecological niche. The late Cretaceous seas however were dangerous
places with other larger sharks
and mosasaurs
possibly being predators
of Aquilolamna.
Further reading
- Manta-like planktivorous sharks in Late Cretaceous oceans. -
Science. 371 (6535): 1253–1256. - Romain Vullo,
Eberhard Frey, Christina Ifrim, Margarito A. Gonz�lez Gonz�lez,
Eva S. Stinnesbeck & Wolfgang Stinnesbeck - 2021.