Xiphactinus

Xiphactinus is an extinct genus of large predatory marine ray-finned fish that lived during the late Albian to the late Maastrichtian. The genus grew up to 5–6 metres (16–20 ft) in length, and superficially resembled a gargantuan, fanged tarpon. It is a member of the extinct order Ichthyodectiformes, which represent close relatives of modern teleosts.

Xiphactinus

Jonathan Chen · CC BY-SA 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
IchthyodectidaePBDB
Diet
carnivorePBDB, for Ichthyodectiformes
Life habit
nektonicPBDB, for Ichthyodectiformes
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Ichthyodectiformes
Length
5.1 mWikidata

Time the record covers

At least 47 million years on record.

The record covers at least 119.57 Mya to 72.2 Mya. No occurrence read is dated outside 121.4 Mya to 66 Mya.

Early Cretaceous — about 1 of 59 occurrencesEarly CretaceousLate Cretaceous — about 58 of 59 occurrencesLate CretaceousPaleocene — about 0 of 59 occurrences123–121 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences121–119 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences101–99 Mya — about 2 occurrences99–98 Mya — about 4 occurrences98–96 Mya — about 4 occurrences96–94 Mya — about 4 occurrences94–92 Mya — about 4 occurrences92–90 Mya — about 4 occurrences90–88 Mya — about 2 occurrences88–86 Mya — about 2 occurrences86–84 Mya — about 5 occurrences84–82 Mya — about 5 occurrences82–80 Mya — about 4 occurrences80–78 Mya — about 4 occurrences78–76 Mya — about 4 occurrences76–74 Mya — about 4 occurrences74–73 Mya — about 4 occurrences73–71 Mya — about 1 occurrence71–69 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences69–67 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences67–65 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences119.57 Mya72.2 Mya123 Mya65 Mya

59 occurrences of Xiphactinus on record, most of them in the Late 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

59 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

27 formations

Greenhorn Limestone — 37.22°N, 103.60°WGreenhorn Limestone — 39.00°N, 98.92°WGreenhorn Limestone — 39.81°N, 97.34°WGreenhorn Limestone — 39.74°N, 97.65°WGreenhorn Limestone — 40.01°N, 97.17°WGreenhorn Limestone — 38.87°N, 98.51°WGreenhorn Limestone — 38.94°N, 98.80°WGreenhorn Limestone — 39.04°N, 98.99°WGreenhorn Limestone — 38.78°N, 98.96°WGreenhorn Limestone — 38.74°N, 99.04°WMooreville Chalk — 32.95°N, 88.08°WMooreville Chalk — 32.94°N, 88.06°WMooreville Chalk — 32.60°N, 87.68°WMooreville Chalk — 32.76°N, 88.02°WNiobrara — 38.91°N, 101.24°WNiobrara — 38.72°N, 100.70°WNiobrara — 39.09°N, 99.85°WNiobrara — 38.79°N, 100.70°WNiobrara — 38.80°N, 100.19°WCarlile Shale — 39.89°N, 98.03°WCarlile Shale — 39.08°N, 99.24°WCarlile Shale — 39.78°N, 98.15°WCarlile Shale — 39.08°N, 99.03°WTar Heel — 34.57°N, 78.50°WTar Heel — 34.61°N, 78.60°WMesaverde — 44.10°N, 107.76°WMarshalltown — 40.30°N, 74.30°WMarshalltown — 39.55°N, 75.65°WNavesink — 39.76°N, 75.13°WNavesink — 40.38°N, 74.21°WBlufftown — 32.16°N, 85.03°WKanguk — 79.75°N, 85.60°WCarlile — 49.05°N, 98.00°WMount Laurel — 40.26°N, 74.27°WCusseta — 32.14°N, 84.95°WBelle Fourche — 53.21°N, 103.52°WAshville — 53.48°N, 102.24°WEagle Ford — 31.53°N, 97.21°WEutaw — 33.52°N, 88.40°WLa Luna — 9.62°N, 70.40°WBlack Creek — 35.46°N, 77.68°WPuskwaskau — 55.61°N, 118.39°WEctor Chalk — 33.54°N, 96.36°WFox Hills — 46.47°N, 99.58°WKaskapau — 55.71°N, 117.60°WTropic Shale — 37.07°N, 111.54°W

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The named rock units Xiphactinus has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 3 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 6 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Xiphactinus and its relatives

Late Cretaceous

Where Xiphactinus and its relatives were recorded in the Late Cretaceous.

Found in the same rock

593 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 58 sites for Xiphactinus, 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

46 references

Each of the 59 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. 34 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 content3

Picture of Xiphactinus

Credit
Jonathan Chen
Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

Laser scan

Licence
In Copyright
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record
Specimen
Xiphactinus sp. · YPM:VP:YPM VP 042230

3D model

Source
Sketchfab
Licence
CC Attribution
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record

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 itIchthyodectidae through timeFormations of the Late CretaceousThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Leidy 1870