Eurypholis Viper Fish Predator and Prey

Eurypholis boissieri

Class: Actinopterygii, Order Alepisauriformes

Geological Time: Middle Cretaceous, Cenomanian Stage (95 million years ago)

Size: Eurypholis: 225 mm; Hajulia: 70 mm on a 270 mm by 190 mm matrix.

Fossil Site: Lebanese Lagerstatt, Haqel, Lebanon

Fossil Code: RN38

Price: Sold


Description: Eurypholis is betrayed as a predator by its wide gape and needle sharp teeth, allowing it to easily engulf smaller prey fish. The flanks carry a line of large bony scales, readily visible in the accompanying photos. This genus went extinct by the Upper Cretaceous. Hajulia is a small fish that went extinct in the Cretaceous, but is possibly related to the recent genus Pterothrissus. The Hajulia may have been too much for the Eurypholis to handle, leading to the death of the predator, as can be seen by the fact that the tail is seen stuck in the predator’s throat. This is a miniature version of my favorite fish plaque: The 4 m long Xiphactinus with a 2 m Gillicus in its stomach to be seen as the fantastic “fish-within-a-fish” at the Sternberg Museum in Hays, Kansas. The repaired cracks detract but little from this large specimen

Fossils Purchase Information

click fossil pictures to enlarge


Fossil Mall Navigation:
l Home l Fossils for Sale Map l Museum and Rare Fossils l How to Buy Fossils l

Navigate by Fossil Category:
l Trilobites
l Ammonites l Fish Fossils l Invertebrate Fossils l
l Crinoids and Echinoderms l Insect Fossils l Dinosaur and Reptile Fossils l
l Cambrian Explosion Fossils l Plant Fossils l Stromatolites l
l Vertebrate Fossils l Fossil Amber l Trace & Ichnofossils l

l Fossils and Paleotological Science Information l