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HISTORICAL AND SCIENTIFIC SIGNIFICANCE OF THE GUT CONTENTS OF A FOSSIL FISH (ICHTHYODECTES) *Hageman, S.A. (1), M.J. Everhart(2) and B.L. Hoffman(1) (1)Department of Natural and Physical Sciences, Park University |
| George F. Sternberg is famous for collecting a “fish-within-a-fish” specimen, Gillicus arcuatus within Xiphactinus audax from the Late Cretaceous of Kansas in 1952. Ironically, his father had already achieved the collection of a “fish-within-a-fish” at least 34 years earlier. In March of 1919 George H. Sternberg sold a collection of fossil fish to Park University that has recently been cataloged and is currently being studied. One of the six plaster jacketed fish specimens from the Late Cretaceous of western Kansas (Logan County) is of Ichthyodectes ctenodon Cope 1870. This specimen is the only known example of the species with stomach contents. Stomach contents of the specimen are tentatively identified as partially digested remains of Enchodus petrosus. The identification is based on the caudal fin, several vertebrae and the overall estimated size of the prey. Due to preservation characteristics of both specimens and the posterior location of the prey, it appears that the larger Ichthyodectes died after partial digestion of the prey. Most of the prey fish was lost to erosion prior to discovery and Sternberg’s fossil preparation removed some of the ribs nearly destroying the evidence that allowed for the confirmation of gut contents and not two overlaid fossils. Although I. ctenodon has long been assumed to be one of the major mid-sized predators in the Western Interior Sea, this Park University specimen provides the first evidence of a piscivorous diet. |
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