Abstract
A new specimen of the genus Rhizodus—R. serpukhovensis represented by a fragment of the lower jaw, is described from the Lower Carboniferous (Serpukhovian Stage, Steshevian Regional Substage), of Central Russia (Moscow Region, Zaborie). Previously, this genus was only known from the Viséan of Western Europe and the USA. Good preservation of the new material allows the description of features unknown for this genus, such as the presence of an intercoronoid fossa and a branch of the mandibular seismosensory canal on the dentary. The morphological and functional analysis of the teeth of rhizodontids showed that R. serpukhovensis sp. nov. was the highest consumer in the trophic structure of the Steshevian vertebrate community, which is supported by the gigantic size and powerful jaws of this fish. Presumably, its diet consisted of large cartilaginous fishes and tetrapods.
Similar content being viewed by others
REFERENCES
Andrews, S.M., Rhizodont crossopterygian fish from the Dinantian of Foulden, Berwickshire, Scotland, with a re-evaluation of this group, Earth Environ. Sci. Trans. R. Soc. Edinburgh, 1985, vol. 76, no. 1, pp. 67–95.
Andrews, S.M. and Westoll, T.S., The postcranial skeleton of rhipidistian fishes excluding Eusthenopteron, Earth Environ. Sci. Trans. R. Soc. Edinburgh, 1970, vol. 68, no. 12, pp. 391–489.
Aretz, M., Herbig, H.G., and Wang, X.D., The Carboniferous period, in Geologic Time Scale 2020, Gradstein, F.M., Ogg, J.G., Schmitz, M.D., and Ogg, G.M., Eds., Amsterdam: Elsevier, 2020, vol. 2, pp. 811–874.
Buckland, W., Geology and Mineralogy Considered with Reference to Natural Theology, Vol. 1, Philadelphia: Carey, Lea and Blanchard, 1837.
Chen, D., Blom, H., Sanchez, S., et al., The developmental relationship between teeth and dermal odontodes in the most primitive bony fish Lophosteus, Elife, 2020, vol. 9, pp. 1–20.
Deufel, A. and Cundall, D., Do booids stab prey?, Copeia, 1999, pp. 1102–1107.
Egerton, P.G. and Cole, E.W.W., A Systematic and Stratigraphical Catalogue of the Fossil Fsh in the Cabinets of Lord Cole and Sir Philip Grey Egerton: Together with an Alphabetical and Stratigraphical Catalogue of the Same Species, with References to Their Published Fgures and Descriptions, London: R. and J.E. Taylor, 1837.
Hibbert, S., On the fresh-water limestone of Burdiehouse in the neighbourhood of Edinburgh, belonging to the Carboniferous Group of Rocks, with supplementary notes on other freshwater limestones, Earth Environ. Sci. Trans. R. Soc. Edinburgh, 1836, vol. 13, no. 1, pp. 169–282.
Jarvik, E., On the Dermal Bones, Sensory Canals and Pit-lines of the Skull in Eusthenopteron foordi Whiteaves: With Some Remarks on E. Säve-söderberghi Jarvik, Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksells, 1944.
Jeffery, J.E., Mandibles of rhizodontids: Anatomy, function and evolution within the tetrapod stem group, Earth Environ. Sci. Trans. R. Soc. Edinburgh, 2003, vol. 93, no. 3, pp. 255–276.
Jeffery, J.E., The Carboniferous fish genera Strepsodus and Archichthys (Sarcopterygii: Rhizodontida): clarifying 150 years of confusion, Palaeontology, 2006, vol. 49, part 1, pp. 113–132.
Jeffery, J.E., Cranial morphology of the Carboniferous rhizodontid Screbinodus ornatus (Osteichthyes: Sarcopterygii), J. Syst. Palaeontol., 2012, vol. 10, no. 3, pp. 475–519.
Johanson, Z., Jeffery, J.E., Challands, T., et al., A new look at Carboniferous rhizodontid humeri (Sarcopterygii; Tetrapodomorpha), J. Vertebr. Paleontol., 2020, vol. 40, no. 3, e1813150. https://doi.org/10.1080/02724634.2020.1813150
Kabanov, P.B., Gibshman, N.B., Barskov, I.S., Alekseev, A.S. and Goreva, N.V., Zaborie section-lectostratotype of Serpukhovian Stage, in Type and Reference Carboniferous Sections in the South Part of the Moscow Basin, Moscow: Borissiak Paleontol. Inst. Ross. Akad. Nauk, 2009, pp. 45–64.
Long, J.A., A new rhizodontiform fish from the Early Carboniferous of Victoria, Australia, with remarks on the phylogenetic position of the group, J. Vertebr. Paleontol., 1989, vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 1–17.
Massare, J., Tooth morphology and prey preference of Mesozoic marine reptiles, J. Vertebr. Paleontol., 1987, vol. 7, no. 2, pp. 121–137.
Menning, M., Schneider, J.W., Alekseev, A.S., et al., Global time scale and regional stratigraphic reference scales of Central and West Europe, East Europe, Tethys, South China, and North America as used in the Devonian–Carboniferous–Permian Correlation Chart 2003 (DCP 2003), Palaeogeogr., Palaeoclimatol., Palaeoecol., 2006, vol. 240, pp. 318–372.
Miall, L.C., On the structure of the skull of Rhizodus, Quart. J. Geol. Soc., 1875, vol. 31, nos. 1–4, pp. 624–627.
Nikolaeva, S.V., Alekseev, A.S., Kulagina, E.I., et al., An evaluation of biostratigraphic markers across multiple geological sections in the search for the GSSP of the base of the Serpukhovian Stage (Mississippian), Palaeoworld, 2020, vol. 29, no. 2, pp. 270–302.
Owen, R., Odontography, or, a Treatise on the Comparative Anatomy of the Teeth; Their Physiological Relations, Mode of Development, and Microscopic Structure in the Vertebrate Animals, London: Hippolyte Bailliere, 1840.
Smithson, T.R., Scottish Carboniferous amphibian localities, Scottish J. Geol., 1985, vol. 21, no. 2, pp. 123–142.
Traquair, R.H., On the genus Rhizodus, Proc. R. Soc. Edinburgh, 1878, vol. 9, pp. 657–660.
Vorobyeva, E.I., Subclass Crossopterygii. Crossopterygians, in Iskopaemye pozvonochnye Rossii i sopredel’nykh stran. Beschelyustnye i drevnie ryby (Fossil Vertebrates of Russia and Neighboring Countries. Jawless and Ancient Fishes), Novitskaya, L.I. and Afanassieva, O.B., Eds., Moscow: GEOS, 2004, pp. 272–372.
Vorobyeva E.I. and Obruchev, D.V., Subclass Sarcopterygii, in Osnovy paleontologii. Beschelyustnye, ryby (Fundamentals of Paleontology. Jawless, Fishes), Obruchev, D.V., Ed., Moscow: Nauka, 1964, pp. 268–322.
White, E., The fish-fauna of the Cementstones of Foulden, Berwickshire, Earth Environ. Sci. Trans. R. Soc. Edinburgh, 1927, vol. 55, no. 1, pp. 255–287.
Young, J., Notice of the occurrence of Rhizodus hibberti in Carboniferous Strata in the neighbourhood of Glasgow, Trans. Geol. Soc. Glasgow, 1865, vol. 2, no. 1, pp. 38–39.
ACKNOWLEGEMENTS
The author is grateful to O.A. Lebedev (Borissiak Paleontological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences; PIN RAS) for providing the material and assistance in working with it, J. Jeffery (Bristol University) for valuable comments, S.V. Bagirov (PIN RAS) for photographs taken by him, as well as to the reviewers of the article A.O. Averianov (Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences), A.S. Alekseev (Moscow State University) and E.V. Popov (Saratov State University).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
The author declares that she has no conflict of interest.
Additional information
Translated by S. Avodkova
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Smirnova, A.Y. A New Species of Rhizodontiform Sarcopterygian Fish (Sarcopterygii: Rhizodontiformes) from the Lower Carboniferous of the Moscow Region. Paleontol. J. 56, 431–440 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0031030122040128
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S0031030122040128