Name:
Bonnerichthys.
Phonetic: Bon-ner-rik-fiss.
Named By: Edward Drinker Cope - 1873.
Synonyms: Portheus gladius,
Protosphyraena gladius.
Classification: Chordata, Actinopterygii,
Pachycormiformes, Pachycormidae.
Species: B. gladius (type).
Diet: Planktonic filter feeder.
Size: Up to about 6 meters long.
Known locations: USA.
Time period: Late Cretaceous.
Fossil representation: Partial remains.
Bonnerichthys
is a genus of very large filter feeding fish that lived during the Late
Cretaceous. By becoming a filter feeder of plankton, Bonnerichthys
had access to a near limitless supply of food, while expending very
little energy in gathering it, meaning that more calories could go
into building and maintaining a large body size.
Relative
genera to Bonnerichthys include Rhinconichthys
and
Leedsichthys.
Further reading
- Bonnerichthys gladius (Osteichthyes) from
the Cretaceous of the
Atlantic coastal states. Abstracts with Programs - Geological
Society of America 43(1):87. - B. S. Grandstaff, D.
C. Parris & R. O. Johnson - 2011.