The prehistoric relatives of the prehistoric sea monster "living fossil fish" turned out to be so big!
The latimeria, also known as the speartail fish, is known as a "living fossil" because it is the only surviving coelacanth, and before it was discovered, paleontologists thought that its family was wiped out during the mass extinction at the end of the Cretaceous period. The body length of the Latimai fish can reach 18 meters and weighing 80 kilograms, it is already a big fish, but there are bigger ones in the prehistoric coelacanths order.
In 1907, the British paleontologist Arthur Smith Woodward named Mawsonia based on the fossils of ancient fish found in Salvador, Brazil, and the genus name was dedicated to the famous Australian geologist and explorer Sir Douglas Mwuson, who won worldwide acclaim for his expeditions to the Antarctic and the Arctic. The Antarctic research station established by Australia in 1954 is also named after him.
*: The skeleton of the Mosen's fish, from the web.
*: Sir Douglas Mawson, from the Internet.
After the discovery of Mauson's fish, paleontologists found its fossils in North America and Africa, and from the location of the discovery site, this large coelacanth order was once distributed on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean during the Mesozoic Era, and lived in freshwater or brackish water. Judging by the strata in which the fossils were found, Mosen's fish lived for a long time, from 1 year agoThe Late Jurassic period lasted from 5.2 billion years ago to the early Late Cretaceous 94 million years ago.
*: Comparison of the place where Mawsen's fish was found and the fauna of the same era, from the Internet.
Of course, what really makes Mosen's fish famous is not its distribution and survival time, but its huge size. Most of the fossils indicate that the body length of the Mosen's fish can be up to 35 meters, but according to a piece of square joint (number DGM 1.) was found in Bahia in eastern Brazil048-p) shows that the big guy has a body length of 53 meters (initially estimated at 6.)3 meters), a little longer than an off-road vehicle. This fossil specimen belongs to Mawsonia gigas of the genus Mawsonia gigas, and the specific age of its existence is 1400 million to 1300 million years ago.
*: Giant Mosen's fish for square joint recovery, from the Internet.
*: Comparison of the size of Mosen's fish with humans, from the Internet.
The shape of the Mosen's fish is similar to that of the Latimai, as if it were an enlarged version of the Latimai, but the head of the Mausen's fish is significantly longer. The body of the Mosen's fish is thick and full, with a large head, a wide cleft mouth, and smaller teeth in the mouth. The body of the Mosen's fish is covered with large, regular scales, some of which may have nodules and ornamentation, as well as defensive effects. The most recognizable thing about the body of the Mosen's fish is its fins, which have a total of six fins, namely the anterior dorsal fin, the posterior dorsal fin, the caudal fin and a pair of pectoral fins, a pair of pelvic fins and an anal fin under the body.
*: Skeletal line diagram of Mosen's fish compared to humans, from the Internet.
*: Reconstruction of Mosen's fish, from the Internet.
Considering that Mosen's fish may not have a good environment, they may have electrical receptors on their bodies, and their large eyes can also help them see their surroundings clearly. Despite its large size, the Mosen's may not be a ferocious predator, and some paleontologists have suggested that it may feed on hard-shelled animals or small fish by sucking, based on its smaller teeth. Of course, there is no certainty about the predatory behavior of Mawsen's fish, but if it is true as paleontologists speculate, then the body size of 5 meters+ may be more than 100 years old!
*: Based on fossil reconstructions of Mosen's fish habitat found in Texas, USA, from the Internet.
Giant Mosen's fish are not invincible, they are likely to be prey to other large predators, such as paleontologists who found its fossils in the Kem Kemgroup strata of North Africa, and where the great fisherman of the dinosaurs, Spinosaurus, lived, so it is not surprising that Mosen's fish appeared on the diet of Spinosaurus.
*: Ecological restoration of the Kamakama Formation, you can see that on the left side of Spinosaurus is Mosen's fish, from the Internet.
Mosen's fish is undoubtedly the largest coelacanth order ever created, but there were other large coelacanths that lived on Earth during the Mesozoic Era, such as the megalocoelacanthus, which was found in North America, and remained extinct until the end of the Cretaceous period.
*: Reconstruction of Colacanthus, from the Internet.
References: C**in, Lionel; piuz, andré; ferrante, christophe; guinot, guillaume (2021-06-03). "giant mesozoic coelacanths (osteichthyes, actinistia) reveal high body size disparity decoupled from taxic diversity". scientific reports. 11 (1): 11812.
Text edit: Microraptor.
*From the Internet, invaded and deleted.