Chinlea
Name: Chinlea
(After the Chinle Formation).
Phonetic: Chin-le-ah.
Named By: B. Schaeffer - 1967.
Classification: Chordata, Sarcopterygii,
Actinistia, Coelacanthiformes, Mawsoniidae.
Species: C. sorenseni
(type).
Diet: Carnivore/Piscivore.
Size: About 1.5 meters long.
Known locations: USA, including the states of
Arizona - Chinle Formation, Colorado - Chinle Formation,
New Mexico - Chinle Formation, Texas - Tecovas Formation and
Colorado City Formation, and Utah - Chinle Formation.
Time period: Carnian to Rhaetian of the Triassic.
Fossil representation: Many individuals, though
often by partial remains such as skulls.
Chinlea
is one of the better known coelacanth
genera from North America,
though remains of this late Triassic aged fish are usually
incomplete. The majority of currently known remains of Chinlea
are
known from the Chinle Formation of the USA, which is also the
inspiration for the genus name.
Overall,
Chinlea seems to have been on the slightly gracile
side of the family
when compared to other coelacanth genera, but still retained the
characteristic deep body and strong lobe fins of its relatives. The
mouth was also filled with large sharp teeth that would have had an
easy time penetrating the bodies of prey animals such as small fish.
With remains indicating sizes up to 1.5 meters long, individual
Chinlea were roughly equivalent to smaller
Latimeria, a modern genus
of coelacanth that was discovered to be alive in the Indian Ocean after
science had claimed coelacanths to be extinct for tens of millions of
years, the adults of which can range between 1.5 and 1.8
meters long.
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.
Further reading
- Late Triassic fishes from the western United States - B.
Schaeffer - 1967.
- A New Specimen of Chinlea sorenseni from the
Chinle Formation,
Dolores River, Colorado - David K. Elliot - 1987.
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