Extraordinary ‘Giant Mouthed’ Fish Species Fossil Discovered By Scientists

An International Team of Scientists and researchers have discovered the fossils of two giant mouthed fishes which lived in the dinosaur era.

According to initial estimation, the fish species is expected to fall in the genus called Rhinconichthys, and they were supposed to swim the oceans almost 92 million years ago during the Cretaceous Period. These two fish fossils have been now named, R. purgatoirensis and R. uyenoi.

Before this discovery, there was only one known Rhinconichthys specimen, discovered in England. But the recent discovery of a Rhinconichthys in Colorado, and the reconsideration of a Japanese fossil has upped the total number to three.

These fishes grow up to 6.5 feet long, and they used to eat planktons with their giant oar like a mouth. The skull of one fossil indicates that these fishes had a remarkable capability to open widely their mouth, which will help them to gulp a mouth full of planktons, just the same way like sharks open their mouth. It should be noted that Rhinconichthys has been named from a shark called Rhincodon.

This new study paper has been named ‘Highly specialized suspension-feeding bony fish Rhinconichthys from the mid-Cretaceous of the United States, England and Japan’ and it will appear in the upcoming issues of the International Scientific Journal (Cretaceous Research).

Kenshu Shimada, a paleobiologist at DePaul University told that fishes which fall under the genus of Rhinconichthys were supposed to be very rare, but now, many findings indicate that these fishes were so diverse and so globally distributed.

Shimada also added that the discovery of similar Rhinconichthys fossils from different corners of the globe has perplexed the researchers and scientists.

These findings clearly indicate our less knowledge about the biodiversity of organisms through the Earth’s history. Shimada added that the discovery of these fossils was simply mind boggling.

Shimada also added that the discovery of similar Rhinconichthys fossils from different corners of the globe has perplexed the researchers and scientists.

These findings clearly indicate our less knowledge about the biodiversity of organisms through the Earth’s history. Shimada added that the discovery of these fossils was simply mind boggling.