This is Caturus, a prehistoric fish which swam in the oceans during the Mesozoic Era. Fossils of this saltwater fish have been found in North America, Europe, northern Africa, and as far as China within rocks spanning from the beginning of the Triassic Period about 250 million years ago (MYA) up to the middle of the Cretaceous Period, about 100 MYA. However, most Caturus fossils have been found in Europe within rock layers dated to the middle and late Jurassic Period, about 170-150 MYA.

Despite a superficial resemblance to a salmon, Caturus was actually more closely related to a bowfin (Amia calva), which is a rather primitive ray-finned fish.

So far, paleontologists have identified fourteen species of Caturus. The largest species, Caturus furcatus, which lived in the Tethys Sea (the shallow sea that covered much of Europe during the middle Jurassic to the middle Cretaceous Period), reached three feet long; other species were much smaller. One species, Caturus dartoni, is known from North America in rocks dated to the middle Jurassic Period, about 165 MYA. Only two skeletons of this particular species have been found, the largest measuring 15 inches long.

Caturus. © Jason R. Abdale. September 5, 2020.

This drawing was made on printer paper with No. 2 pencil, No. 3 pencil, Crayola colored pencils, Prismacolor colored pencils, and Artist’s Loft colored pencils.

Categories: Paleontology, Uncategorized

Tags: Africa, America, Asia, bowfin, Caturus, Cretaceous Period, Europe, fish, Jurassic Period, Late Jurassic, Mesozoic, Middle Cretaceous, Middle Jurassic, Morrison Formation, North America, paleo-art, paleontology, Sundance Formation, Sundance Sea, Tethys Sea, Triassic Period