The Prehistoric Park Animal Field Guide Volume 1

by WildExpert24

As a Prehistoric Park employee, you get the privilege to work with the likes of previously extinct animals. However, if you want to survive longer than five minutes, then you need to have knowledge of its inhabitants. From the world of Cartoon\'s Prehistoric Park, this Guide will give you info on behavior, diet, lifespan, and more. Welcome to the Ultimate Prehistoric Guidebook.

45. Lonchidion

Lonchidion

Scientific Classification

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Chondrichthyes

Order: Hybodontiformes

Family: Lonchidiidae

Genus: Lonchidion

Type Species: Lonchidion selachos

Described by Estes, 1964.

Common Name: Hell Creek Hybodont

Species:

-Lonchidion anitae, Thurmond, 1971

-Lonchidion breve, Patterson, 1966

-Lonchidion crenulatum, Patterson, 1966

-Lonchidion humblei, Murry, 1981[2]

-Lonchidion indicus, Yadagiri, 1986

-Lonchidion inflexum, Underwood & Rees, 2002

-Lonchidion microselachos, Estes & Sanchíz, 1982

-Lonchidion selachas, Estes, 1964

-Lonchidion selachos, Estes, 1964

-Lonchidion striatum, Patterson, 1966

-Lonchidion ferganensis, Fischer et al., 2011

Current Park Population: (13; all adults; 6 male, 7 female).

Park Diet: Frozen fish like Silversides and anchovies, shrimp, and crabs, Clams, squids, shrimp, and crabs.

Natural Diet: Fish, Cephalopods, and shelled Crustaceans.

Lifespan: 30 years

Habitat: Rivers, Streams, Waterways, Lakes, Creeks, Floodplains, Swamps, lagoons, Estuaries, and Coastal Shores.

Native Ecosystem: Western North America, on what was then an island continent known as Laramidia. Hell Creek Formation, Montana, USA, North America, North America, Eurasia, India, and northwest Africa 251.90-66 Million Years Ago, Turonian-Maastrichtian Stages, Early Triassic-Late Cretaceous.

Breeding Season: August-November

Gestation Period: Four-Six Months

Eggs Laid: 20 eggs

Hatching Time: Six-Nine Months

Danger Level: 4 out of 10.

Summary: There were bizarre fish genera in the Hell Creek Waterways one of them is the spiny-finned freshwater shark Lonchidion, a holdover from the Triassic period. Lonchidion was a genus of very successful freshwater lonchidiid hybodont that lived through most of the Mesozoic. Fossils attributed to Lonchidion are known from as early as the Triassic to as late as the Cretaceous. Lonchidion has been mostly associated with North America and Eurasia, hinting at a very wide distribution for the genus across different species.

History of Discovery: Lonchidion was first described by R. Estes in 1964, and the type species is Lonchidion selachas. Fossils of Lonchidion have been discovered across North America, Eurasia, India, and northwest Africa in sediments representative of a variety of environments. A new species, L. ferganensis, was described by Jan Fischer, Sebastian Voigt, Jörg W. Schneider, Michael Buchwitz, and Silke Voigt in 2011, from fossilized teeth and egg capsules.

Description: Lonchidion counter-shaded with dark brown on the top with grayish brown spots becoming darker brown on the tail, a grayish brown layer with a white underbelly, the dorsal fins had long sharp visible spines at the front, small hornlets above their heads, and their fins black-tipped.

Size: They measure up to 0.5 meters (1.6 Feet).

Paleobiology:

Diet: Hybodonts like Lonchidion are seen as being generalists, capable of hunting and efficiently killing anything from fish and cephalopods to shelled crustaceans. It is this adaptability which is seen as the main reason for the success of this genus during the Mesozoic, and it is also mirrored within some of the related genera to Lonchidion such as Hybodus.

Interactions with other species: Often ignored by the large dinosaurs, adults and young are prey to predators like Pectinodon, Dromaeosaurus, Acheroraptor, Anzu, Quetzalcoatlus, and juvenile T. Rex, predatory fish, Didelphodon, Borealosuchus, Thoracosaurus, Champsosaurus, Brachychampsa, Axestemys, Palaeobatrachus, Scapherpeton, and Habrosaurus. The sharks do have spines on their dorsal fines to defend themselves from larger predators.

These sharks feed on young Casterolimulus, Melvius, Paleopsephurus, Myledaphus, and Lepisosteus occidentalis.

Extinction: Due to Freshwater acidification and changing water temperatures would lead to the extinction of Lonchidion and all hybodont sharks. Based on scientific research, the analysis found that there was a substantial loss of elasmobranch species following the event. Overall, elasmobranch species declined by more than 62 percent and did not fully recover in the Paleocene period, which spanned around 66 to 56 million years ago. For all shark species, the percentage that went extinct was around 59 percent compared to 72 percent for rays. But the researchers found that patterns of extinction varied. For example, rays as a group and elasmobranch species that fed on shelled prey (referred to as "durophagous"), as well as more ancient shark species, suffered the highest levels of extinction.

Danger Tip: It's best to be careful with sharks as they have sharp teeth and those spines on their dorsal fins are a hazard too.

Significant Events: On the Team's Final Day of their First Rescue Mission, the team comes upon a shiver of Lonchidion alongside Paleopsephurus feeding on small fish alongside Myledaphus swimming and hiding under the river sediment, and a group of Casterolimulus crawling along the river alongside amphibians, Habrosaurus and Scapherpetons, and various fish. They were captured in nets to be transported to the Park. They now reside in the Hell Creek Forest Building.

Hell Creek Forest Building Aquarium: This large tank houses most of the Hell Creek Fishes and aquatic life like Casterolimulus, Paleopsephurus, and Myledaphus replicating the freshwater waterways, visitors can view them with underwater thick glass panel viewing. The Lonchidion can be seen in the lower layers of the water column of the tank sometimes resting on the sand.

Conclusion: To Shark Fans visiting Prehistoric Park would like to stop to see our Lonchidion. Lonchidion is an example of Shark evolution and diversity in our Earth's History.

The Field Guide might take a long time, like structuring and writing descriptions of the creatures, but also my time in college and spending time with my family. So you can suggest additional information quotes, descriptions, and natural or speculative behaviors for the prehistoric animals that I can edit and you send your suggestions either in reviews or Private Messages.

Examples: Inferring what the toons are doodling on the sketches or snarking quotes.

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