Tyrannophontes
Extinct genus of mantis shrimp / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Tyrannophontes is an extinct genus of mantis shrimp that lived during the late Carboniferous period in what is now the Mazon Creek fossil beds of Illinois. It is the only genus in the family Tyrannophontidae. The type species, T. theridion, was described in 1969 by Frederick Schram. A second, much larger species, T. gigantion, was also named by Schram in 2007. Two other species were formerly assigned to the genus, but have since been reclassified.
Quick Facts Scientific classification, Type species ...
Tyrannophontes | |
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3D reconstruction of T. theridion | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Malacostraca |
Order: | Stomatopoda |
Family: | †Tyrannophontidae Schram, 1969 |
Genus: | †Tyrannophontes Schram, 1969 |
Type species | |
†Tyrannophontes theridion Schram, 1969 | |
Other species | |
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This animal is theorized to be a benthopelagic predator, swimming above the seabed while it hunted, perhaps grabbing prey from above using its raptorial appendages. It lived in a marine environment which would have been just south of the equator.