PBDB Taxon

Basic info	Taxonomic history	Classification	Included Taxa
Morphology	Ecology and taphonomy	External Literature Search	Age range and collections

Xiphactinus

Osteichthyes - Ichthyodectiformes - Ichthyodectidae

Taxonomy

Xiphactinus was named by Leidy (1870) [Sepkoski's age data: K Albi K Camp Sepkoski's reference number: 915]. It is not extant.

It was synonymized subjectively with Portheus by Hay (1902).

It was assigned to Siluridae by Leidy (1873); to Chirocentridae by Case and Schwimmer (1988); to Pachycormiformes by Sepkoski (2002); and to Ichthyodectidae by Applegate (1970), Thurmond and Jones (1981), Schwimmer et al. (1997), Shimada (2006), Shimada et al. (2006), Cavin et al. (2013), Bice and Shimada (2016), Hoganson et al. (2019).

Species

X. audax (syn. Portheus lestrio, Portheus lowii, X. brachygnathus, Portheus mudgei, Portheus molossus, Saurocephalus thaumas), X. vetus (syn. Polygonodon rectus, Portheus angulatus)

Species lacking formal opinion data

X. daviesi, X. mantelli

Synonymy list

Year	Name and author
1870	Xiphactinus Leidy
1873	Xiphactinus Leidy p. 290
1970	Xiphactinus Applegate p. 418
1981	Xiphactinus Thurmond and Jones p. 97
1988	Xiphactinus Case and Schwimmer p. 300
1997	Xiphactinus Schwimmer et al. p. 611
2002	Xiphactinus Sepkoski
2006	Xiphactinus Shimada p. 169
2006	Xiphactinus Shimada et al. p. 23
2013	Xiphactinus Cavin et al. p. 170
2016	Xiphactinus Bice and Shimada p. 186
2019	Xiphactinus Hoganson et al. p. 53

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Rank	Name	Author
kingdom	Animalia	()
—	Bilateria
—	Eubilateria	Ax 1987
—	Deuterostomia
phylum	Chordata	Haeckel 1874
subphylum	Vertebrata
superclass	Gnathostomata
class	Osteichthyes

Rank	Name	Author
subclass	Actinopterygii	()
infraclass	Actinopteri	()
—	Teleosteomorpha
—	Teleostei	(Müller 1846)
order	Ichthyodectiformes	Bardack and Sprinkle 1969
suborder	Ichthyodectoidei	Romer 1966
family	Ichthyodectidae	Crook 1892
genus	Xiphactinus	Leidy 1870

If no rank is listed, the taxon is considered an unranked clade in modern classifications. Ranks may be repeated or presented in the wrong order because authors working on different parts of the classification may disagree about how to rank taxa.

G. †Xiphactinus Leidy 1870

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†Xiphactinus audax Leidy 1870

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Invalid names: Portheus lestrio Cope 1873 [synonym], Portheus lowii Stewart 1898 [synonym], Portheus molossus Cope 1871 [synonym], Portheus mudgei Cope 1874 [synonym], Saurocephalus thaumas Cope 1870 [synonym], Xiphactinus brachygnathus Stewart 1898 [synonym]

†Xiphactinus vetus Leidy 1856

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Invalid names: Polygonodon rectus Leidy 1858 [synonym], Portheus angulatus Cope 1872 [synonym]

Diagnosis

No diagnoses are available

Measurements

No measurements are available

Composition:

phosphaticsubp

Environment:

marinesubp

Locomotion:

actively mobileo

Life habit:

nektonico

Diet:

carnivoreo

Created:

2009-07-20 21:09:47

Modified:

2009-07-20 23:23:33

Source: o = order, subp = subphylum

References: Hendy et al. 2009, Carroll 1988

Age range: base of the Early/Lower Aptian to the top of the Early/Lower Maastrichtian or 121.40000 to 66.00000 Ma

Collections (55 total)

Time interval	Ma	Country or state	Original ID and collection number
Early/Lower Aptian	121.4 - 119.57	Germany	X. sp. (221372)
Cenomanian	100.5 - 93.9	Venezuela (Trujillo)	X. audax (176561)
Late/Upper Cenomanian	100.5 - 93.9	USA (Utah)	X. audax (236735)
Late/Upper Cenomanian	100.5 - 93.9	USA (Kansas)	X. audax (213414 213416 213417 213418 213419)
Middle Cenomanian	100.5 - 93.9	USA (Colorado)	X. audax (35429)
Middle Cenomanian	100.5 - 93.9	USA (Kansas)	X. audax (94538) X. sp. (83071)
Middle Cenomanian	100.5 - 93.9	Canada (Saskatchewan)	X. audax (22731 52997)
Late/Upper Cretaceous	100.5 - 66.0	USA (New Jersey)	Polygonodon vetus (126156)
Early/Lower Turonian	93.9 - 89.8	Canada (Alberta)	X. sp. (221341)
Early/Lower Turonian	93.9 - 89.8	USA (Kansas)	X. audax (213384 213385)
Early/Lower Turonian	93.9 - 89.8	USA (Nebraska)	X. audax (213402)
Middle Turonian	93.9 - 89.8	USA (Kansas)	X. audax (35365 213387 213526)
Turonian	93.9 - 89.8	USA (Kansas)	X. audax (102879)
Turonian - Coniacian	93.9 - 85.7	USA (Texas)	X. sp. (107425)
Early/Lower Coniacian	89.8 - 85.7	USA (Texas)	X. audax (241388) X. sp. (34755)
Coniacian - Early/Lower Campanian	89.8 - 72.2	Canada (Manitoba)	X. audax (36747)
Late/Upper Coniacian - Early/Lower Campanian	89.8 - 72.2	USA (Mississippi)	X. audax (164393)
Late/Upper Santonian	85.7 - 83.6	USA (Kansas)	Portheus molossus (188488)
Santonian	85.7 - 83.6	USA (Alabama)	X. audax (81928)
Santonian	85.7 - 83.6	USA (Kansas)	X. audax (94652) X. sp. (93220)
Late/Upper Santonian - Early/Lower Campanian	85.7 - 72.2	USA (Alabama)	X. audax (81932 81934 81972 82049 82054)
Late/Upper Santonian - Middle Campanian	85.7 - 72.2	USA (Georgia)	X. audax (35289)
Santonian - Campanian	85.7 - 72.2	Canada (Alberta)	X. audax (192128)
Campanian	83.6 - 72.2	USA (North Carolina)	Portheus molossus (190555)
Campanian	83.6 - 72.2	USA (Georgia)	X. audax (70720)
Campanian	83.6 - 72.2	Canada (Nunavut)	X. sp. (36383)
Early/Lower Campanian	83.6 - 72.2	USA (North Carolina)	Polygonodon rectus (106277)
Early/Lower Campanian	83.6 - 72.2	USA (Alabama)	X. audax (81930)
Early/Lower Campanian - Middle Campanian	83.6 - 72.2	USA (North Carolina)	Polygonodon rectus, X. audax (57918)
Judithian	83.6 - 72.2	USA (Wyoming)	X. vetus (14478 14479 14487)
Late/Upper Campanian	83.6 - 72.2	USA (Delaware)	X. sp. (27570)
Late/Upper Campanian	83.6 - 72.2	USA (New Jersey)	X. audax (14455) X. sp. (32181) X. vetus (221052)
Middle Campanian	83.6 - 72.2	USA (North Carolina)	X. vetus (128412)
Late/Upper Campanian - Early/Lower Maastrichtian	83.6 - 66.0	USA (New Jersey)	X. sp. (57916)
Early/Lower Maastrichtian	72.2 - 66.0	USA (New Jersey)	X. sp. (26818)
Late/Upper Maastrichtian	72.2 - 66.0	USA (North Dakota)	X. vetus (213589)