Explore this animal in Size of Extinct Animals ↗
442 / Mesozoic
Bonnerichthys
Bonnerichthys gladius
A giant bony fish filtered plankton near the ocean surface.
View original image · 1600 × 1067- Time range
- About 100–66 million years ago
- Final stage
- End of the Cretaceous
- Geographic range
- Inland and open seas · North America
01 / DEFINITION & ECOLOGY
What was Bonnerichthys?
Bonnerichthys (Bonnerichthys gladius) was an extinct organism known from About 100–66 million years ago, with a range in Inland and open seas · North America.
Life and ecology
Long gill rakers sieved plankton as it cruised slowly through upper waters.
02 / DISAPPEARANCE
Why did Bonnerichthys disappear?
Pachycormid filter feeders ended with the end-Cretaceous extinction; the youngest records of Bonnerichthys are not precisely tied to that event.
03 / EVIDENCE
How do scientists know about Bonnerichthys?
Jaws, gill rakers, fins and scattered bones support giant filter feeding.
04 / SOURCES & FURTHER READING
Check the source record
Use the scientific name to compare taxonomy, occurrence records and the fossil record. Database coverage and classifications may differ.
05 / REVISION HISTORY
How has this record changed?
- Rewrote an extinction cause that presented environmental or faunal turnover as established; it is now given as context the record does not prove.
- Verified authoritative entity sources and added three responsive reconstruction sizes.
- Initial bilingual species record published.
06 / CORRECTIONS & ADDITIONS