Chimaera - Echinochimaera, Chimaera Monstrosa, Silver Chimaera, Cuban Chimaera, Carpenter's Chimaera, Jordan's Chimaera, Owston's Chimaera (Paperback)

Chapters: Echinochimaera, Chimaera Monstrosa, Silver Chimaera, Cuban Chimaera, Carpenter's Chimaera, Jordan's Chimaera, Owston's Chimaera. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 22. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: Echinochimaera meltoni Echinochimaera snyderi Echinochimaera is an extinct genus of fish, it was assigned to the order chimaera by Jack Sepkoski in 2002. The genus' name derives from the Greek (echino) meaning spiny, and chimaera. Both Echinochimaera species lived in the Upper Mississippian (Serpukhovian). Fossils of the species were found in the Bear Gulch Limestone in Montana, United States. Both species have rounded bodies and paddle-like tails as well as large pectoral fins, two dorsal fins and a jaw fused to the braincase. The paddle-like tails indicate that E. meltoni was likely not a predator nor a fast swimmer. Echinochimaera meltoni was first described by Richard Lund, a Adelphi University palaeontologist, in 1977. The fossils found of E. meltoni have shown a great deal of sexual dimorphism, males being found to have a maximum 150mm body length while the maximum body length found in females was only 70mm (juveniles were 13-20mm). In general, the females only grew to about half the size of the males. Males also had four pairs of spikes which may have been used to defend against predators and to identify the fish as male. There was a relative abundance of immature male fossils found, and that together with the significant sexual dimorphism indicate there was extreme sexual selection among the species. Echinochimaera snyderi was described, like E. meltoni, by Richard Lund. It was described in 1988 based on juvenile specimens, all with a body length under 90mm. E. snyderi differs from E. meltoni in fins detail as well as jaw shape and teeth near the front edge of the fa...More: http: //booksllc.net/?id=1943016