Name:
Mandageria
(Named after the Mandagery Sandstone Formation where it was first
discovered).
Phonetic: Man-daj-e-re-ah.
Named By: Zerina Johanson & Per E.
Ahlberg - 1997.
Classification: Chordata, Sarcopterygii,
Crossopterygii, Osteolepiforms, Tristichopteridae.
Species: M. fairfaxi (type).
Diet: Carnivore/Piscivore.
Size: Around 1.5 to 2 meters long.
Known locations: Australia - Mandagery Sandstone
Formation.
Time period: Frasnian/Fammenian of the Devonian.
Fossil representation: Fairly well known.
An
extinct genus of lobe-finned fish, Mandageria was
a streamlined
predators of other fish. With the exception of the pectoral fins that
are situated near the head, all of the other fins are located in more
posterior locations towards the tail. Because these fins were here,
they could help increase the surface area that pushed against the
water as the tail moved, making Mandageria (and
similar fish)
capable of sudden bursts of acceleration towards prey, closing the
distance between them before the prey could even react. The long
‘torpedo-shaped’ body of Mandageria is quite
common amongst fish
today, particularly fresh water genera that lurk amongst reeds while
waiting to ambush prey. Once prey was in the mouth, the sharp teeth
made certain that prey could not get away. The type species name M.
fairfaxi is in honour of James Fairfax.
At
up to two meters long, Mandageria was fairly
large for a lobe-finned
fish, yet it was nothing near the size of Hyneria,
another genus of
lobe-finned fish which is considered to have been quite closely related
to Mandageria.
Further reading
A new tristichopterid (Osteolepiformes: Sarcopterygii) from the
Mandagery Sandstone (Late Devonian, Famennian) near Canowindra,
NSW, Australia - Z. Johanson & P. E. Ahlberg
- 1997.