Lot 6 Fossil Lepisosteus opertus mm 3-16 - gr 2.6 Alligator Gar Fish Osteichthyes Extinct Bony Fish Mesozoic Cretaceous Collecting Paleontology Museum.
Interesting and valuable Fossil Collection, with excellent surface details of each sample, which includes Teeth, Scales, Vertebrae and Skull Bone Plates of this late Cretaceous Primitive Fish, which has survived up to our days, from the Hell Creek Formation in Montana. In Plexiglas Box diameter cm 4.5, as in photos.
Lepisosteids (Lepisosteidae) are the only fish family of the Lepisosteiformes order (Osteichthyes, Actinopterygii). It includes seven species divided into two genera (Atractosteus and Lepisosteus) that inhabit the fresh, brackish and occasionally marine waters of North America, Central America and the Caribbean islands.
These fish are also called c
aiman or alligator fish, for the long snout similar to that of the reptile, or pike, although they are not related to the real pike, belonging to the family of the Exocidae. The name Lepisosteus derives from the Greek lepis, «scaglia», and osteon, «bone». Also Atractosteus, the name of the other genus of the family, derives from the Greek, but in this case from the word atraktos, «arrow». In English the name used to indicate the various species of Lepisosteus is
gar. With this name, which in ancient English meant "spear", it was originally indicated another species, the common needlefish, Belone belone, very common in the North Atlantic. In order to avoid confusion with North American Lepisosteus, nowadays, the common needlefish is called garpike, "pike lance", or gar fish, "lance fish".
Lepisosteiforms are a very ancient "primitive" Attinopterygii order; in fact, fossil species belonging to this order dating back to the Upper Cretaceous are known. Fossils of Lepisosteus have been found in Europe, South America and North America; one can easily guess how much the past distribution of these fish was today compared to today.
The surviving forms of a group of rather primitive bone fish very common in the Mesozoic are considered; their current relative to which they are most closely related is the bald amia, another archaic fish endemic also from North America.
The body of Lepisosteids is elongated and covered entirely with
ganoid scales; also the jaw is stretched like the body and is equipped with long sharp teeth. Since
their highly vascularized swim bladder can also function as a lung, many Lepisosteids surface from time to time to take a breath of air, especially when they are in stagnant or warm waters, where the oxygen concentration is rather low . As a result they are very resistant creatures and are able to tolerate conditions that would kill most other fish. They are voracious predators that capture the prey with their needle-like teeth
The meat of the current Lepisosteus is edible and sometimes placed on the market, but their eggs are poisonous, unlike those of the sturgeons to which they resemble in appearance. Some species are also sold as aquarium fish.
In the past, various parts of lepisostei have proved to be of great utility for man. The Native Americans used the scales as arrowheads, while with their hard skin the ancient Caribbean peoples built armor and the first American pioneers lined the tips of their plows. We do not know much about the precise function that the Lepisosteus played within the vast religious and cultural landscape of the Native Americans, but we know with certainty that the Creek and the Chickasaw undertook "Lepisosteus dances".
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