Mene purdyi Temporal range: Late Thanetian | |
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A restoration of Mene purdyi (bottom) compared with Mene maculata (top) | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Actinopterygii |
Order: | Perciformes |
Family: | Menidae |
Genus: | Mene |
Species: | †M. purdyi |
Binomial name | |
†Mene purdyi Friedman & Johnson, 2005 |
Mene purdyi is an extinct species of perciform fish from Late Thanetian-aged marine deposits in Paleocene Peru. Mene purdyi is currently known only from a single skull and a few post-cranial bones. Mene purdyi is among the largest, if not the largest, members of the genus, as the skull suggests that it would have been over 40 centimeters in life. The living species, Mene maculata, by comparison, grows to an average length of 18 centimeters.