Cockerellites

Cockerellites is a genus of extinct temperate bass[1] described from early Eocene-aged fossils found in the Green River Formation of Wyoming.[2][3] It is characterized by a sunfish-like body and its stout dorsal and anal spines. The type species, C. liops, was originally named as a species of Priscacara by Edward Drinker Cope upon creating the genus in 1877,[4] but P. liops was moved to the newly created genus Cockerellites by D. Jordan and H. Hanibal in 1923.[5] Some authors, such as Whitlock (2010), still consider Cockerellites liops as a species of Priscacara.[1]

Cockerellites
Temporal range: Early Eocene,
~
Specimen from the 18 inch layer of the Green River Formation, Wyoming
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Chordata
Class:
Actinopterygii
Order:
Moroniformes
Family:
Moronidae
Genus:
†Cockerellites

Jordan & Hanibal, 1923
Binomial name
†Cockerellites liops
(Cope, 1877)
Synonyms

C. liops is based on the holotype USNM 4044[6] and it had been placed in Priscacara as P. liops but is now considered a separate genus.[7] C. liops was originally seen as the most common species of Priscacara within the Green River lacustrine deposits and at certain locations it outnumbers P. serrata by over 3:1. The two species differ in the number of dorsal and anal fin rays, as well as possibly a coarser serrated rear edge of the preopercle in P. serrata. C. liops also has small conical teeth on the pharyngeal jaw, whereas P. serrata has large grinding toothplates, suggesting a diet of snails and crustaceans.[8]

References
  1. Whitlock, J. A. (2010). "Phylogenetic relationships of the Eocene percomorph fishes Priscacara and Mioplosus". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 30: 1037–1048.
  2. "Cockerellites Jordan, 1923". www.gbif.org. GBIF. Retrieved 2021-04-10.
  3. "Fossilworks: Cockerellites". fossilworks.org. Fossilworks. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
  4. E. D. Cope. (1877). A contribution to the knowledge of the ichthyological fauna of the Green River shales. Bulletin of the United States Geological and Geographical Survey 3(4):807-819
  5. D. S. Jordan and H. Hanibal. (1923). Fossil sharks and rays of the Pacific slope of North America. Bulletin of the Southern California Academy of Sciences 22:27-63
  6. Cope, E. D. (1884). "The vertebrata of the Tertiary formations of the West". Report of the United States Geological Survey of the Territories. 3: 1–1009.
  7. Grande, L. (14 June 2013). The Lost World of Fossil Lake: Snapshots from Deep Time. University of Chicago Press; Illustrated edition. p. 169. ISBN 978-0226922966.
  8. Grande, L. (1984). "Paleontology of the Green River Formation, with a review of the fish fauna". Geological Survey of Wyoming Bulletin. 63: 1–333.
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