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Ophiopsis serrata
Taxonomy
Ophiopsis serratus was named by Wagner (1852). It is a compression fossil. Its type locality is Neukelheim Grünsandstein, which is in a Cenomanian marine sandstone in the Grünsandstein Formation of Germany.
It was corrected as Ophiopsis serrata by Wagner (1863).
It was corrected as Ophiopsis serrata by Wagner (1863).
Entered
by D. Sinopoli (authorized by M. Uhen) on 2026-06-18; modified by D. Sinopoli on 2026-06-18
Synonymy list
| Year | Name and author |
|---|---|
| 1852 | Ophiopsis serratus Wagner p. 62 |
| 1863 | Ophiopsis serrata Wagner p. 654 |
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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.
†Ophiopsis serrata Wagner 1852
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Diagnosis
| Reference | Diagnosis | |
|---|---|---|
| J. Wagner 1863 | Of the Oph. serrata, which was initially known to me only from a single, deficient specimen, I have now found two specimens in the collection of Dr. Oberndorfer that are not only larger but also far better preserved than ours, which retains only the lower part of its dorsal fin. In the two new specimens, especially the larger one, it is evident that this fin does not remain low along its entire length, but on the contrary, that the first rays are exceptionally long, but soon shorten further along its length. The tail fin is deeply forked. On the smaller of the two specimens, the scales are distinctly toothed; on the larger one, in addition to the toothed scales, many almost toothless ones are visible, probably because the thin posterior margin of the latter is broken off. The length of the largest specimen to the middle of the caudal fin is 8” 7’, the greatest body width 2 2°, and the length of the first long ray of the dorsal fin almost as much.
The Pholidophorus tenuiserraltus Münst., which, according to the length of its dorsal fin, belongs to Ophiopsis, is a special case. The two specimens from the Münster collection, from which Agassiz provided the cited illustrations, I no longer found in the same collection; however, they had been replaced under the same name by two others, also from Kelheim. This exchange, however, was not a fortunate one, for although Münster included better specimens, these no longer belonged to the same species, but I have established a new one from them as Oph. attenuata. For, apart from Fig. 3 tab. 38, which only shows a posterior body section and is therefore insufficient for a reliable identification, Fig. 4 tab. 42, with its more robust shape, appears It resembles a young Oph. serrata far more than our slender Oph. attenuata. Since the original specimen of Oph. tenuiserrata is not available to me for comparison, and since, as the illustration shows, its contours are very damaged, I do not consider it sufficient to establish the type of a separate species. Instead, I classify it for the time being alongside Oph. serrata, from which it differs in smaller size and less robust form, but is otherwise very similar. |
Measurements
No measurements are available
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| Source: c = class, subp = subphylum, p = phylum | |||||
| References: Carroll 1988, Bambach et al. 2007, Hendy et al. 2009, Kiessling 2004 | |||||
Age range: Cenomanian or 100.50000 to 93.90000 Ma
Collections: one only
| Time interval | Ma | Country or state | Original ID and collection number |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cenomanian | Germany | Ophiopsis serratus (138006) |