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Caturus tarraconensis
Taxonomy
Caturus tarraconensis was named by Sauvage (1903). Its type specimen is MGB 514, a partial skeleton, and it is a compression fossil. Its type locality is La Pedrera de Meià, El Montsec, which is in a Barremian lacustrine - large limestone in the La Pedrera de Rúbies Formation of Spain.
Sister species lacking formal opinion data
Entered
by D. Sinopoli (authorized by M. Uhen) on 2026-05-09; modified by D. Sinopoli on 2026-05-09
Synonymy list
| Year | Name and author |
|---|---|
| 1903 | Caturus tarraconensis Sauvage p. 11 figs. Pl 4, Fig 1 |
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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.
†Caturus tarraconensis Sauvage 1903
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Diagnosis
| Reference | Diagnosis | |
|---|---|---|
| H. E. Sauvage 1903 | The maximum height of the trunk, roughly equal to the length of the head, including the opercular apparatus, fits four and a half times into the total length of the body. Head profile regularly curved: snout thick, obtuse, roughly the same length as the diameter of the orbit. Strong and sharp anterior teeth. Granular orbital bones. Opercular apparatus equal in size to one-third of the length of the head. Large operculum with a lower edge barely wider than the upper. Large suboperculum, adorned like the operculum with reticulations. Ribs fairly strong and long, as are the corresponding neuroapophyses. Neurapophyses and hemapophyses of the caudal region arched, fairly long. Small ventral fins with 6 or 7 rays, inserted closer to the anal fin than to the pectoral fins. Dorsal fin beginning above the ventral fins, equidistant from the back of the head and the base of the caudal fin. Anal fin beginning equidistant from the ventral and caudal fins. Robust caudal pedicle: its height fits two and a half times the maximum height of the trunk. Robust caudal fin: its length is about one-quarter of the body length, with 35 or 36 rays, the central ones thicker. Approximate length 20 centimeters.
The Caturus furcatus (C. latus Agassiz) from the Bavarian and Bugey lithographic limestones differs in its snout, the shape of the operculum, the relatively more recessed dorsal fin, and the comparative length of the middle part of the caudal fin. Another incomplete specimen of larger size (24 centimeters long, without the caudal fin) shows the following characteristics: Thick head, 7 centimeters long. Thick, obtuse snout. Widely cleft mouth, well behind the posterior margin of the orbit. Large operculum. Rough opercular apparatus, equal to about one-third the length of the head. Relatively long ribs, as well as the corresponding neuroapophyses: strong ossicles in front of the dorsal fin. Pectoral fins as long as the head without the opercular apparatus, with 12 or 14 bifurcated rays. The ventral fins, inserted slightly closer to the anal fin than to the pectoral fins, are short. The anal fin is equidistant from the ventral fins and the base of the caudal fin, which is taller than it is long, with a dozen thick, bifurcated rays supported by long ossicles. |
Measurements
No measurements are available
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| Source: o = order, subp = subphylum | |||||
| References: Carroll 1988, Hendy et al. 2009 | |||||
Age range: Early/Lower Barremian or 125.77000 to 121.40000 Ma
Collections: one only
| Time interval | Ma | Country or state | Original ID and collection number |
|---|---|---|---|
| Early/Lower Barremian | Spain (Cataluña) | Caturus tarraconensis (type locality: 85293) |