A unique Cretaceous-Paleogene lineage of piranha-jawed pycnodont fishes.

The extinct group of the Pycnodontiformes is one of the most characteristic components of the Mesozoic and early Cenozoic fish faunas. These ray-finned fishes, which underwent an explosive morphological diversification during the Late Cretaceous, are generally regarded as typical shell-crushers. Here we report unusual cutting-type dentitions from the Paleogene of Morocco which are assigned to a new genus of highly specialized pycnodont fish.

Paleopathology of a fossil fish from the Solnhofen Lagerstätte (Upper Jurassic, southern Germany).

The collection of fossil fishes from Solnhofen (Upper Jurassic, southern Germany), deposited at the Bavarian State Collection for Paleontology and Geology was examined for the detection of integument or skeletalpathologies. Among 50 studied specimens, only one halecomorph fish exhibited lesions: these are diagnosed as skin tumors. In extant taxa the causes of this disease are varied (toxins, infectious agents, physical or immunological causes, nutritional and metabolic perturbations).