Hyneria

Taxobox
name = "Hyneria"
fossil_range = Late Devonian


regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
subphylum = Vertebrata
classis = Sarcopterygii
subclassis = Tetrapodomorpha
superordo = Osteolepidida
familia = Tristichopteridae
genus = "Hyneria"
binomial = "Hyneria lindae"
binomial_authority = Thomson, 1968

"Hyneria" was a prehistoric predatory lobe-finned fish that lived during the Devonian period around 360 million years ago. It was approximately 4 meters in length [ [http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/transcripts/2905_link.html NOVA | Transcripts | The Missing Link | PBS ] ] and weighed as much as two tons. There is evidence from bones that it had very strong fins and maybe could go onto land.

In 1968, fossilized teeth, bones and a tail fin were found by Keith Thompson in the Red Hill Shale of Pennsylvania [ [http://www.devoniantimes.org/who/pages/hyneria.html Devonian Times - Hyneria lindae ] ] . Many specimens have been found since then, although a complete skeleton has yet to be discovered. Hyneria was just one of many species of lobe-finned fish of the family Tristichopteridae, common in the Late Devonian period, along with its close relative "Eusthenopteron", whose well-preserved fossils are common and so have been intensively studied by scientists for decades.

In popular culture

"Hyneria" was featured in the BBC's television series "Walking With Monsters". It featured a beached female "Hyneria" attempting to catch prey by sliding along the muddy ground like a walrus to catch two "Hynerpeton" (with the narrator explaining that it could "attack like a killer whale after a seal"). This behavior is entirely speculative, based on the fact that the fish had powerful fleshy fins, like those of a coelacanth, that could possibly have enabled it to move short distances on land (though most modern researchers consider early tetrapods and their ancestors to have been mainly aquatic).

Science fiction TV show Farscape featured an amphibious alien race known as the Hynerians.

References

Haines, Tim, and Paul Chambers. The Complete Guide to Prehistoric Life. Pg. 32-33. Canada: Firefly Books Ltd., 2006.

External links

* [http://www.personal.psu.edu/jla210/Homepage/Photos/RedHill/RHFishFin.jpgFossilized Hyneria tail fin]
* [http://www.devoniantimes.org/who/pages/hyneria.html Hyneria at Devonian Times]