Synechodus

Synechodus is an extinct genus of cartilaginous fish belonging to the family Palaeospinacidae and order Synechodontiformes. It is known from 16 species primarily spanning from the Late Triassic to Paleocene. The dentition is multicusped and was used for grasping. Several species are known from skeletal remains, including the species Synechodus ungeri from the Late Jurassic of Germany, which shows that it was relatively short with large pectoral fins and a proportionally large head with a round snout. This species is suggested to have reached a body length of 30–40 centimetres (0.98–1.31 ft). Skeletal remains are also known of the species Synechodus dubrisiensis from the Cretaceous of Europe. A skeleton of an indeterminate species is also known from the Early Cretaceous (Albian) of France, with a body length of around 70 centimetres (2.3 ft). Synechodus is suggested to have had two dorsal fins that lacked fin spines, though the number of dorsal fins is unknown in Synechodus ungeri.

Synechodus

Villalobos-Segura, Eduardo; Stumpf, Sebastian; Türtscher, Julia; Jambura, Patrick L.; Begat, Arnaud; López-Romero, Fa… · CC BY 4.0 · 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
PalaeospinacidaePBDB
Diet
carnivorePBDB, for Synechodontiformes
Life habit
nektonicPBDB, for Synechodontiformes
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Synechodontiformes

Time the record covers

At least 242 million years on record.

The record covers at least 290.1 Mya to 48.07 Mya. No occurrence read is dated outside 293.52 Mya to 41.03 Mya.

Permian — about 2 of 298 occurrencesPermianEarly Triassic — about 20 of 298 occurrencesMiddle Triassic — about 29 of 298 occurrencesLate Triassic — about 43 of 298 occurrencesLate TriassicEarly Jurassic — about 10 of 298 occurrencesEarly JurassicMiddle Jurassic — about 7 of 298 occurrencesLate Jurassic — about 17 of 298 occurrencesEarly Cretaceous — about 84 of 298 occurrencesEarly CretaceousLate Cretaceous — about 78 of 298 occurrencesLate CretaceousPaleocene — about 6 of 298 occurrencesEocene — about 2 of 298 occurrences299–290 Mya — about 1 occurrence290–281 Mya — about 1.0 occurrences255–246 Mya — about 22 occurrences246–237 Mya — about 26 occurrences237–229 Mya — about 16 occurrences229–220 Mya — about 8 occurrences220–211 Mya — about 7 occurrences211–202 Mya — about 10 occurrences202–194 Mya — about 7 occurrences194–185 Mya — about 3 occurrences185–176 Mya — about 2 occurrences176–167 Mya — about 3 occurrences167–159 Mya — about 4 occurrences159–150 Mya — about 15 occurrences150–141 Mya — about 2 occurrences141–132 Mya — about 3 occurrences132–124 Mya — about 9 occurrences124–115 Mya — about 13 occurrences115–106 Mya — about 21 occurrences106–97 Mya — about 47 occurrences97–88 Mya — about 11 occurrences88–80 Mya — about 18 occurrences80–71 Mya — about 25 occurrences71–62 Mya — about 20 occurrences62–53 Mya — about 2 occurrences53–45 Mya — about 1 occurrence45–36 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences290.1 Mya48.07 Mya299 Mya36 Mya

298 occurrences of Synechodus on record, most of them in the Early Cretaceous. 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

298 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

63 formations

Hunstanton — 54.15°N, 0.17°WHunstanton — 53.68°N, 0.50°WTaho Limestone — 33.37°N, 132.67°ESpeeton Clay — 54.16°N, 0.24°WSpeeton Clay — 54.16°N, 0.26°WLaird — 56.16°N, 122.55°WLaird — 56.10°N, 122.87°WLaird — 56.07°N, 123.16°WMesaverde — 44.08°N, 107.74°WMesaverde — 44.10°N, 107.75°WMesaverde — 44.17°N, 107.81°WBaldonnel — 56.08°N, 123.04°WBaldonnel — 56.10°N, 122.87°WPardonet — 56.13°N, 123.08°WPardonet — 56.10°N, 122.87°WPardonet — 56.48°N, 122.89°WPardonet — 56.10°N, 122.72°WPardonet — 56.02°N, 123.08°WBurim — 49.71°N, 31.54°EHythe — 51.19°N, 0.73°EHythe — 51.24°N, 0.05°WHythe — 51.24°N, 0.10°WTransitional Beds — 56.13°N, 123.08°WLower Kimmeridge marls — 51.90°N, 10.51°ESot de Chera — 41.12°N, 0.83°WLudington — 56.13°N, 123.08°WLudington — 56.67°N, 123.27°WLudington — 56.80°N, 123.45°WLabguva — 54.88°N, 23.92°ELabguva — 55.09°N, 22.90°EMarnes de Jamoigne — 49.72°N, 5.22°EWestbury — 51.60°N, 2.63°WWestbury — 51.18°N, 3.38°WFox Hills — 46.47°N, 99.58°WFrome Clay — 51.85°N, 0.10°WMiddle Kimmeridge marls — 51.90°N, 10.51°EJasna Gora — 50.46°N, 19.51°EMarnes sableuses d'Audun-le-Tiche — 49.45°N, 6.00°EConway — 42.58°S, 173.49°EFerriby — 54.15°N, 0.17°WJiesia — 55.06°N, 24.37°E

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The named rock units Synechodus has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 39 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 72 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Synechodus and its relatives

Early Cretaceous

Where Synechodus and its relatives were recorded in the Early Cretaceous.

Found in the same rock

888 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 247 sites for Synechodus, and this reads 240 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

75 references

Each of the 298 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. 63 further references are not listed. 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 Synechodus

Credit
Villalobos-Segura, Eduardo; Stumpf, Sebastian; Türtscher, Julia; Jambura, Patrick L.; Begat, Arnaud; López-Romero, Fa…
Licence
CC BY 4.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

No 3D scan of Synechodus was found in MorphoSource and Sketchfab.

Smithsonian Open Access was 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 itPalaeospinacidae through timeFormations of the Early CretaceousThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Woodward 1888