Illusionella tsurevica BAYKINA, 2012

Taxonomy

Clupeid

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopteri Cope 1871
Order: Clupeiformes Bleeker 1859
Family: Clupeidae Cuvier 1817
Genus: Illusionella
Species: Illusionella tsurevica
Author Citation BAYKINA, 2012

Geological Time Scale

Eon: Phanerozoic
Era: Cenozoic
Period: Neogene
Sub Period: None
Epoch: Miocene
International Age: Serravallian

Stratigraphy

Tsurevskii Formation

Provenance

Acquired by: Purchase/Trade

Dimensions

Length: 8 cm

Location

Pshekha River
Tsurevskii Village
Krasnodar Region
Russia

• illusionella
• krasnodar
• miocene
• russia
• sarmatian
• serravallian
• tff-oilshale-ch2505
• tsurevskii formation

Comments

The transcription of the Russian terms and names is often ambiguous. In the literature the locality and the formation is called both Tsurevskii or Tsurevskiy. The Russian spelling is Цуревский.

Taxonomy from Baykina 2012.

Diagnosis for Illusionella (after Baykina 2012, p. 304): "Skull narrow; bulla prootica 2– 2.5 times as large as bulla pterotica; frontals smooth; maxilla saber-shaped, with distinctly convex lower margin, terminating short of reaching vertical through orbital center; posterior supramaxilla in shape of irregular parallelogram; hypomaxilla absent; lower jaw projecting considerably anterior to upper jaw; mandibular joint in line with vertical of anterior orbital border or just behind it; jaw bones lacking teeth; subopercle long, with well-developed process; rami of preopercle almost equal in length, horizontal ramus considerably narrower than vertical ramus; opercle subrectangular, smooth; branchial membrane with seven rays; vertebrae 44–50 in number; dorsal fin located slightly anterior to vertical of body midlength; abdominal fins located opposite middle of dorsal fin base or under its posterior one-third; anal fin displaced far towards tail; two posterior rays of anal fin elongate; caudal fin with two epurals; ventral carina very poorly developed."

Line drawing from Baykina 2012:

Identified according to Baykina, 2012: The two posterior elongate rays of the anal fin are characteristic for Illusionella.

Reference:
Baykina, E. M. (2012): A New Clupeid Genus (Pisces, Clupeiformes, Clupeidae) from the Sarmatian of the Eastern Paratethys, Krasnodar Region. Paleontological Journal, 2012, Vol. 46, No. 3, pp. 302–312.