| Titanichthys Temporal range: Late Devonian | |
|---|---|
| |
| Illustration of T. clarkii' | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Order: | †Arthrodira |
| Suborder: | †Brachyothoraci |
| Family: | †Titanichthyidae |
| Genus: | †Titanichthys Newberry, 1885 |
| Species: |
|
| Type species | |
| †Titanichthys agassizi Newberry, 1885 | |
Titanichthys is an extinct genus of large placoderm fish from the late Devonian (Famennian) period of Morocco and the United States.
Discovery and Naming[]
Most of the species of Titanichthys, including the type, were uncovered in the Cleveland Shale formation from Ohio, United States. Like other placoderms, the only material found of the animal was the bony plating covering the head and upper body. The type species, T. agassizi, was described in 1885 by John Newberry. 5 more species have been described under the genus name; all of which also come from Ohio's Cleveland Shale excluding one Moroccan species (T. termieri) and a dubious Polish species (T. koslowskii).
The generic name "Titanichthys" comes from the Greek roots for "titanic" and "fish", pointing to its large size. The type species name, "agassizi", is named after famous biologist and geologist Louis Agassiz. Later species names were named after other scientific figures or the shape of the specimens' plates.
Description[]
The uniqueness of this fish comes from its strange head plating. Other arthrodiran placoderms used their plating as a combination of protection and as a stand-in for teeth to hunt. Unlike the active predators of the time like Dunkleosteus, Titanichthys had small underdeveloped mouth plating, suggesting it used an alternate feeding method from active carnivory. It is assumed Titanichthys used suspension filter feeding to eat small or planktonic species, with the mouth plates only being used to keep the prey in its mouth. Studies of its jaw structure supports this hypothesis, as it resembles the mandibles of modern filter feeders. This makes Titanichthys the first known filter feeder of this size in natural history.
Now outdated reconstruction of Titanichthys
Russel Engelman in 2023 revised the outdated size assumptions for Titanichthys of 7 meters (23 feet) using ellipsoid volumetric scaling, which placed it at similar size to Dunkleosteus at approximately 4 meters (13 feet) in length on average.
Classification[]
Titanichthys is the type and only genus of its family, Titanichthyidae, as a basal aspinothoracid fish. The closest genera to Titanichthys are placed outside its family, Bungartius and Tafilalichthys.