The argentiniform Surlykus longigracilis gen. et sp. nov., the most abundant fish from the Eocene Fur Formation of Denmark

Abstract

Bony fishes are among the best represented macrofossils from the earliest Eocene Fur Formation, northern Denmark. The most abundant fish of the formation has never been formally described, in spite of its abundance throughout the formation, and only referred to as an ‘argentinoid’. This work provides a taxonomic study of this argentinoid taxon, which is described herein as Surlykus longigracilis gen. et sp. nov. The caudal skeleton shows separated first preural and first ural centra, a unique condition within the Argentiniformes. In addition, it is characterised by having a large mouth and a single supramaxilla, which suggest that Surlykus gen. nov. occupies a basal position within the Argentiniformes, representing the sister-group to all the other lineages of this clade ([Argentinidae + Opisthoproctidae] + [Bathylagidae + Microstomatidae]), and, consequently, a stem-group Argentiniformes. Mass-mortality assemblages may indicate that Surlykus longigracilis gen. et sp. nov. formed large schools in the ancient North Sea Basin, where it probably represented the trophic nucleus of the fish communities.