Platysomus

Name: Platysomus.
Phonetic: Plat-e-soe-mus.
Named By: Agassiz‭ ‬-‭ ‬1843‭?
Synonyms: Platysomus parvus,‭ ‬Stromateus gibbosus.
Classification: Chordata,‭ ‬Actinopterygii,‭ ‬Palaeonisciformes.
Species: P.‭ ‬circularis,‭ ‬P.‭ ‬forsteri,‭ ‬P.‭ ‬gibbosus,‭ ‬P.‭ ‬macrurus,‭ ‬P.‭ ‬nathorsti,‭ ‬P.‭ ‬palmaris‭?‬,‭ ‬P.‭ ‬parvulus,‭ ‬P.‭ ‬rotundus,‭ ‬P.‭ ‬striatus,‭ ‬P.‭ ‬superbus,‭ ‬P.‭ ‬swaffordae,‭ ‬P.‭ ‬tenuistriatus.
Diet: Planktonic feeder.
Size: ‭About 18 centimetres long.
Known locations: Potentially worldwide with fossils being found in Australia,‭ ‬England,‭ ‬Germany,‭ ‬Greenland,‭ ‬Jan Mayan,‭ ‬Russia,‭ ‬Scotland,‭ ‬Svalbard and the USA including the states of Illinois and Kansas.
Time period: Visean of the Carboniferous through to the Anisian of the Triassic.
Fossil representation: Multiple specimens.




       Platysomus had a very deep body with a reduced tail and quite small pectoral fins,‭ ‬all indicators that fish of this genus were slow swimmers.‭ ‬Despite this,‭ ‬Platysomus was a highly successful genus,‭ ‬a statement that is easily backed up just by looking at the broad temporal and geographic ranges of the known specimens.‭ ‬Platysomus has also been considered to live in both salt and freshwater habitats,‭ ‬though it should be remembered that the continents back in the Carboniferous were not only much closer together than they were today,‭ ‬but as the Permian periods went on they actually came together to form the supercontinent of Pangaea,‭ ‬which may in part explain why Platysomus were so successful.

Further reading
-‭ ‬A new platysomid from the Upper Carboniferous of Kansas‭ (‬USA‭) ‬and remarks on the systematics of deep-bodied lower actinopterygians‭ ‬-‭ ‬K.‭ ‬E.‭ ‬Mickle‭ & ‬K.‭ ‬Bader‭ ‬-‭ ‬2009.



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