Friday, June 21, 2019


Meet Australia's newest ichthyodectiform - Dugaldia emmilta 
Published this month in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 
See https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02724634.2019.1576049?af=R&journalCode=ujvp20for more details. 
Summary:Ichthyodectiformes are known as bull-dog fishes cause of their upwards turned mouth. Highly predatory from the Mesozoic found in localitites worldwide. These fishes became extinct at the K-T boundary. 

Additional material from kronosaurus korner allowed for the updated description.

Phylogenetics indicate Dugaldia sits basal to the ichthyodectidae 
Jaw mechanics indicate that Dugaldia could enlarge its gape like the Sarcastic fringehead fish...