Homorhynchus

Homorhynchus; Temporal range: Middle Eocene–Early Oligocene PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
	Specimen of H. colei from Romania
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Carangiformes
Family:	†Palaeorhynchidae
Genus:	†Homorhynchus; van Beneden, 1873
Type species
	†Homorhynchus bruxelliensis; van Beneden, 1873
Species
	H. bruxelliensis van Beneden, 1873; H. colei (Agassiz, 1844); H. deshayesi (Agassiz, 1844);
Synonyms
	Hemirhynchus Agassiz, 1844 (preocc.);

Homorhynchus (Greek for "same beak") is a genus of prehistoric billfish known from the Eocene to the Oligocene of Europe.^[1]^[2]

The following species are known:^[3]

H. bruxelliensis van Beneden, 1873 (type species) - Middle Eocene of Belgium
H. colei (Agassiz, 1844) - Early Oligocene of Switzerland (Matt Formation), North Caucasus of Russia (Pshekha Formation)^[4], Abkhazia^[2], Romania (Lower Dysodilic Shales Formation)^[1]
H. deshayesi (Agassiz, 1844) - Middle Eocene of France (Lutetian limestone)

Due to being less well-studied compared to H. colei and being contemporaneous, it is possible that H. bruxelliensis and H. deshayesi are synonymous with each other.^[1] H. colei and H. deshayesi were originally placed in Hemirhynchus Agassiz, 1844, which was found to be preoccupied by a junior synonym for the bird genus Suthora (Hemirhynchus Hodgson, 1843). Both these species were thus reclassified into the genus Homorhynchus, originally coined as a monotypic genus by Pierre-Joseph van Beneden for H. bruxelliensis.^[3]^[5]^[6]

Unlike most other early billfish, which had equally long upper and lower jaws, Homorhynchus had an elongated upper jaw and a significantly reduced lower jaw, the same as is seen in modern billfishes. Otherwise, it closely resembles the closely related, contemporaneous billfish Palaeorhynchus.^[7]^[8]^[9]

References

1 2 3 Grădianu, Ionuț; Monsch, Kenneth A.; Baciu, Dorin Sorin (2025-05-31). "Systematic Revision of the Oligocene Billfishes (Istiophoriformes: Palaeorhynchidae) from Romania". Diversity. 17 (6): 393. Bibcode:2025Diver..17..393G. doi:10.3390/d17060393. ISSN 1424-2818.
1 2 Monsch, Kenneth A.; Bannikov, Alexandre F. (2011). "New taxonomic synopses and revision of the scombroid fishes (Scombroidei, Perciformes), including billfishes, from the Cenozoic of territories of the former USSR". Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. 102 (4): 253–300. Bibcode:2011EESTR.102..253M. doi:10.1017/S1755691011010085. ISSN 1755-6910.
1 2 Schultz, Ortwin (1985). "Taxonomische Neugruppierung der Überfamilie Xiphioidea (Pisces, Osteichthyes)". Annalen des Naturhistorischen Museums in Wien. Serie a für Mineralogie und Petrographie, Geologie und Paläontologie, Anthropologie und Prähistorie. 89: 95–202. ISSN 0255-0091. JSTOR 41701870.
↑ Банников, Александр Федорович (2009). Ископаемые колючеперые рыбы (Acanthopterygii): систематика, филогения и роль в кайнозойских ихтиокомплексах Тетиса и Паратетиса (Thesis) (in Russian).
↑ Geology, British Museum (Natural History) Department of; Woodward, Arthur Smith (1901). Catalogue of the Fossil Fishes in the British Museum (Natural History): Actinopterygian Teleostomi of the suborders Isospondyli (in part), Ostariophysi, Apodes, Percesoces, Hemibranchii, Acanthopterygii, and Anacanthini. order of the Trustees.
↑ Penhallurick, John (2010). "A correction to Penhallurick & Robson (2009)". Forktail (26): 147–148.
↑ Bannikov, A. F.; Erebakan, I. G. (2023-10-01). "On the Evolution of Some Groups of Marine Bony Fishes in the Cenozoic of the Tethys and Paratethys". Paleontological Journal. 57 (5): 475–490. Bibcode:2023PalJ...57..475B. doi:10.1134/S0031030123050015. ISSN 1555-6174.
↑ Geology, British Museum (Natural History) Department of; Woodward, Arthur Smith (1901). Catalogue of the Fossil Fishes in the British Museum (Natural History): Actinopterygian Teleostomi of the suborders Isospondyli (in part), Ostariophysi, Apodes, Percesoces, Hemibranchii, Acanthopterygii, and Anacanthini. order of the Trustees.
↑ Danilʹchenko, P. G. (1967). Bony Fishes of the Maikop Deposits of the Caucasus: Kostistye Ryby Maĭkopskikh Otlozheniĭ Kavkaza. Israel Program for Scientific Translations [available from the U.S. Department of Commerce, Clearinghouse for Federal Scientific and Technical Information, Springfield, Va.]

External links

Homorhynchus, Paleobiology Database

[:0-1] 1 2 3 Grădianu, Ionuț; Monsch, Kenneth A.; Baciu, Dorin Sorin (2025-05-31). "Systematic Revision of the Oligocene Billfishes (Istiophoriformes: Palaeorhynchidae) from Romania". Diversity. 17 (6): 393. Bibcode:2025Diver..17..393G. doi:10.3390/d17060393. ISSN 1424-2818.

[:1-2] 1 2 Monsch, Kenneth A.; Bannikov, Alexandre F. (2011). "New taxonomic synopses and revision of the scombroid fishes (Scombroidei, Perciformes), including billfishes, from the Cenozoic of territories of the former USSR". Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. 102 (4): 253–300. Bibcode:2011EESTR.102..253M. doi:10.1017/S1755691011010085. ISSN 1755-6910.

[:3-3] 1 2 Schultz, Ortwin (1985). "Taxonomische Neugruppierung der Überfamilie Xiphioidea (Pisces, Osteichthyes)". Annalen des Naturhistorischen Museums in Wien. Serie a für Mineralogie und Petrographie, Geologie und Paläontologie, Anthropologie und Prähistorie. 89: 95–202. ISSN 0255-0091. JSTOR 41701870.

[:2-4] Банников, Александр Федорович (2009). Ископаемые колючеперые рыбы (Acanthopterygii): систематика, филогения и роль в кайнозойских ихтиокомплексах Тетиса и Паратетиса (Thesis) (in Russian).

[5] Geology, British Museum (Natural History) Department of; Woodward, Arthur Smith (1901). Catalogue of the Fossil Fishes in the British Museum (Natural History): Actinopterygian Teleostomi of the suborders Isospondyli (in part), Ostariophysi, Apodes, Percesoces, Hemibranchii, Acanthopterygii, and Anacanthini. order of the Trustees.

[6] Penhallurick, John (2010). "A correction to Penhallurick & Robson (2009)". Forktail (26): 147–148.

[7] Bannikov, A. F.; Erebakan, I. G. (2023-10-01). "On the Evolution of Some Groups of Marine Bony Fishes in the Cenozoic of the Tethys and Paratethys". Paleontological Journal. 57 (5): 475–490. Bibcode:2023PalJ...57..475B. doi:10.1134/S0031030123050015. ISSN 1555-6174.

[8] Geology, British Museum (Natural History) Department of; Woodward, Arthur Smith (1901). Catalogue of the Fossil Fishes in the British Museum (Natural History): Actinopterygian Teleostomi of the suborders Isospondyli (in part), Ostariophysi, Apodes, Percesoces, Hemibranchii, Acanthopterygii, and Anacanthini. order of the Trustees.

[9] Danilʹchenko, P. G. (1967). Bony Fishes of the Maikop Deposits of the Caucasus: Kostistye Ryby Maĭkopskikh Otlozheniĭ Kavkaza. Israel Program for Scientific Translations [available from the U.S. Department of Commerce, Clearinghouse for Federal Scientific and Technical Information, Springfield, Va.]

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Homorhynchus

References

External links