Atractosteus spatula

The alligator gar is a euryhaline ray-finned fish in the clade Ginglymodi of the infraclass Holostei, being most closely related to the bowfins. It is the largest species in the gar family (Lepisosteidae), and is among the largest freshwater fishes in North America. The fossil record traces its group's existence back to the Early Cretaceous over 100 million years ago. Gars are often referred to as "primitive fishes" or "living fossils", because they have retained some morphological characteristics of their early ancestors, such as a spiral valve intestine, which is also common to the digestive system of sharks, and the ability to breathe in both air and water. Their common name was derived from their resemblance to the American alligator, particularly their broad snouts and long, sharp teeth. It is suggested that an alligator gar can grow up to 10 ft (3.0 m) in length.

Atractosteus spatula

Greg Hume · CC BY-SA 3.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Sits inside
AtractosteusPBDB
Diet
carnivorePBDB, for Lepisosteiformes
Life habit
nektonicPBDB, for Lepisosteiformes
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Lepisosteiformes
Environment
freshwaterPBDB, for Lepisosteiformes

Time the record covers

At least 36 million years on record.

The record covers at least 37 Mya to 129 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 45.9 Mya to 11.7 ka.

Eocene — about 1 of 9 occurrencesEoceneOligocene — about 0 of 9 occurrencesMiocene — about 3 of 9 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 0 of 9 occurrencesPleistocene — about 5 of 9 occurrences47–45 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences45–44 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences44–42 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences42–41 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences41–39 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences39–37 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences37–36 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences23–22 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences22–20 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences17–16 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences16–14 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences14–12 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences12–11 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences11–9.4 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences3.1–1.6 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences1.6–0 Mya — about 5 occurrences37 Mya129 ka46.8 Mya0 Mya

9 occurrences of Atractosteus spatula on record, most of them in the Pleistocene. The Paleobiology Database records this as a living group. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

9 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

7 formations

Bermont — 27.70°N, 82.50°WValentine — 42.78°N, 100.03°WFleming — 31.00°N, 93.40°WAlachua — 29.55°N, 82.52°WFort Thompson — 27.80°N, 82.80°WShuler — 32.71°N, 96.71°WSantiago — 33.40°N, 117.51°W

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Atractosteus spatula has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 1 occurrence has no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Atractosteus spatula and its relatives

Pleistocene

Where Atractosteus spatula and its relatives were recorded in the Pleistocene.

Found in the same rock

576 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 9 sites for Atractosteus spatula, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

9 references

Each of the 9 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content1

Picture of Atractosteus spatula

Credit
Greg Hume
Licence
CC BY-SA 3.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

No 3D scan of Atractosteus spatula was found in Sketchfab.

Smithsonian Open Access and MorphoSource were not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itAtractosteus through timeFormations of the PleistoceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. (Lacepede 1803)