Pseudosphaerodon antiquus
Pseudosphaerodon antiquus
Summary
Pseudosphaerodon antiquus is a taxonomically uncertain acanthomorph known principally from jaws and rounded teeth. The dentition is very different from the sharp grasping teeth of the London Clay pursuit predators: the broad crowns indicate a feeding apparatus capable of crushing or bruising resistant food. Hard-shelled invertebrates are therefore plausible prey, although no direct gut contents are known.
Its exact family relationships remain debated, so the animal should not be reconstructed as a specific modern type of durophagous fish. The robust marginal teeth nevertheless provide direct evidence that crushing-based feeding niches were occupied by several unrelated teleosts in the London Clay ecosystem.
Quick Identification
Look for: robust jaw fragments carrying rounded, low-crowned teeth along the lateral margins; the teeth are blunt and crushing rather than pointed, with broad bases and smooth to gently domed functional surfaces.
Diagnostic Features
- Jaw teeth are broad-based and rounded in occlusal view.
- Crowns are low and blunt rather than conical or blade-like.
- Crushing teeth occur along the lateral margins of both upper and lower jaw elements.
- Individual teeth are separated rather than forming a completely fused pavement.
- Jaw bone supporting the dentition is thick and robust beneath the tooth row.
Fossil Details
Recorded Fossil Sites
No fossil-site occurrences have yet been recorded for this species.
References
- Casier, E. (1966). Faune ichthyologique du London Clay. 496 pp.. Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History), London View reference
- Friedman, M.; Beckett, H. T.; Close, R. A.; Johanson, Z. (2016). The English Chalk and London Clay: two remarkable British bony fish Lagerstätten. Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 430(1), 165–200. Geological Society of London, London View reference