Rhizodus
Name: Rhizodus
(Root tooth).
Phonetic: Rie-zo-dus.
Named By: Owen - 1840.
Classification: Chordata, Osteichthyes,
Sarcopterygii, Tetrapodomorpha, Rhizodontida, Rhizodontidae.
Species: R. hibberti (type), R.
serpukhovensis.
Diet: Carnivore/Piscivore.
Size: Possibly as much as 6 to 7 meters long.
Known locations: Europe.
Time period: Bashkirian to Gzhelian of the
Carboniferous.
Fossil representation: Several individuals but
usually only of partial remains.
Rhizodus
is the type genus of the Rhizodontida, a fairly large group of
lobe-finned fishes, many genera of which are known from deposits in
Australia. Most remains of Rhizodus however are
known from Ireland
and Scotland, though some reports suggest that Rhizodus
might have
also been active in North America as well, something that is
plausible given that North America and Europe were not separated by
the Atlantic during the Carboniferous.
Out
of all of the rhizodonts, Rhizodus seems to have
been the largest of
the group. A single jaw of Rhizodus has been
measured at just a
little under one meter long, indicating that the individual it
belonged to would have been six, possibly as much as seven meters
long. This means that Rhizodus might have even
been just a bit longer
than the largest recorded Great White shark (Carcharodon
carcharias)
which was accurately measured at just a bit over six meters long. The
teeth of Rhizodus were also long and fang-like,
and as much as
twenty-two centimetres long. These teeth and large physical size
suggest that Rhizodus were apex predators that
hunted other large
fish, primitive
sharks and probably even temnospondyl amphibians.
More information on the above fish can be found on their corresponding pages; Ceratodus, Chinlea, Dipnorhynchus, Dipterus, Eusthenopteron, Gooloogongia, Griphognathus, Gyroptychius, Holoptychius, Hyneria, Macropoma, Mandageria, Osteolepis, Panderichthys, Rhizodus, Strunius, Tiktaalik (upper estimate).
Further reading
- On the structure of the lower jaw in Rhizodopsis
and Rhizodus -
R. H. Traquair.
- A new species of rhizodontiform sarcopterygian fish (Sarcopterygii:
Rhizodontiformes) from the Lower Carboniferous of the Moscow Region. -
Paleontological Journal. 56 (4): 431–440 - A. Y. Smirnova - 2022.
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