''Harpagofututor'' is an extinct

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

cartilaginous fish Chondrichthyes (; ) is a class that contains the cartilaginous fishes that have skeletons primarily composed of cartilage. They can be contrasted with the Osteichthyes or ''bony fishes'', which have skeletons primarily composed of bone tissue ...

from the Mississippian of

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

. It was an

eel Eels are ray-finned fish belonging to the order Anguilliformes (), which consists of eight suborders, 19 families, 111 genera, and about 800 species. Eels undergo considerable development from the early larval stage to the eventual adult stage ...

-shaped fish with almost no

scales Scale or scales may refer to: Mathematics * Scale (descriptive set theory), an object defined on a set of points * Scale (ratio), the ratio of a linear dimension of a model to the corresponding dimension of the original * Scale factor, a number w ...

. About eight inches (20 cm) long, it swam with some help from its

fins A fin is a thin component or appendage attached to a larger body or structure. Fins typically function as foils that produce lift or thrust, or provide the ability to steer or stabilize motion while traveling in water, air, or other fluids. Fin ...

, but also relied on whole-body locomotion to move. The fish also had

teeth A tooth ( : teeth) is a hard, calcified structure found in the jaws (or mouths) of many vertebrates and used to break down food. Some animals, particularly carnivores and omnivores, also use teeth to help with capturing or wounding prey, tear ...

sufficient for eating

shellfish Shellfish is a colloquial and fisheries term for exoskeleton-bearing aquatic invertebrates used as food, including various species of molluscs, crustaceans, and echinoderms. Although most kinds of shellfish are harvested from saltwater envir ...

.Bear Gulch – Harpogofutor volsellorhinus
''Harpagofututor'' is thought to be related to the cochliodonts, chimaeroids, and '' Chondrenchelys problematica''. The fish was discovered in the 1980s in Montana's

Bear Gulch The Bear Gulch Limestone is a limestone-rich geological lens in central Montana, renowned for the quality of its late Mississippian-aged fossils. It is exposed over a number of outcrops northeast of the Big Snowy Mountains, and is often considere ...

area by

Adelphi University Adelphi University is a private university in Garden City, New York. Adelphi also has centers in Manhattan, Hudson Valley, and Suffolk County. There is also a virtual, online campus for remote students. It is the oldest institution of higher ed ...

palaeontologist Paleontology (), also spelled palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of life that existed prior to, and sometimes including, the start of the Holocene epoch (roughly 11,700 years before present). It includes the study of fossi ...

Richard Lund, who has been exploring the limestone formations of the region since 1969. The area was thought to be the location of a shallow bay. Fish remains are found throughout the area. Further examinations of the soft tissue pigments of these fossilized remains led to more information about the fish and information about its internal organs, including its reproductive system.Grogan, Eileen D. and Richard Lund. "Soft Tissue Pigments of the Upper Mississippian Chondrenchelyid, Harpagofututor volsellorhinus (Chondrichthyes, Holocephali) from the Bear Gulch Limestone, Montana, USA," ''Journal of Paleontology'', Vol. 71, No. 2, March 1997, pp. 337-342.

Sources

*

* ''Aquagenesis: The Origin and Evolution of Life in the Sea'' by Richard Ellis * ''The Rise of Fishes: 500 Million Years of Evolution'' by John A. Long

References

Prehistoric cartilaginous fish genera Carboniferous cartilaginous fish Mississippian fish of North America {{paleo-cartilaginous-fish-stub