Wendyichthys dicksoni Poplin & Lund, 1997

By oilshale (edited)

• December 12, 2016

Taxonomy

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopteri Cope 1871
Order: Palaeonisciformes Hay 1902
Family: Rhadinichthyidae Romer 1945
Genus: Wendyichthys
Species: Wendyichthys dicksoni
Author Citation Poplin & Lund, 1997

Geological Time Scale

Eon: Phanerozoic
Era: Paleozoic
Period: Carboniferous
Sub Period: Mississippian
Epoch: Late
International Age: Serpukhovian

Stratigraphy

Big Snowy Group
Heath Formation
Bear Gulch Bed

Provenance

Acquired by: Purchase/Trade

Dimensions

Length: 13 cm

Location

Bear Gulch
Fergus County
Montana
United States

• bear gulch
• carboniferous
• heath shale
• montana
• wendyichthys

Comments

Taxonomy from Fossilworks.org.

Diagnosis from Lund & Poplin 1997, p. 467: "Wendyichthys with the following characters: dermosphenotic small, lateral to the anterior part of the frontal and with a slight variable contact with the nasal; thin sclerotic boues; two suborbitals not in contact with each other nor with the surrounding bones, occasionally with one additional anamestic element; maxilla with a sharp posteroventral angle; one row of marginal teeth; operculum in tight contact with suboperculum; 12—13 branchiostegal rays; presence of an extralateral gular on each side of the median gular; six to eight ridge scales midway between the skull and the dorsal fin; three to four ridge scales immediate in front of dorsal fin origin. For meristics and morphometrics see Table 1."

Line drawing from Lund & Poplin 1997, p. 472:

Identified by oilshale using Lund & Poplin 1997.

References:
Lund R. & Poplin C. 1997. — The Rhadinichthyids (Palaeoniscoid, Actinopterygians) from the Bear Gulch Limestone of Montana (USA, Lower Carboniferous). Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 17: 466-486.