Eothynnus

{{Short description|Extinct species of fish}} {{Speciesbox | fossil_range = {{fossilrange|54|50|Ypresian<ref name="sepkoskidb">{{cite journal|last=Sepkoski |first=Jack |title=A compendium of fossil marine animal genera |journal=Bulletins of American Paleontology |volume=364 |page=560 |year=2002 |url=http://strata.ummp.lsa.umich.edu/jack/showgenera.php?taxon=611&rank=class |accessdate=2009-02-27 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110723131237/http://strata.ummp.lsa.umich.edu/jack/showgenera.php?taxon=611&rank=class |archivedate=2011-07-23 }}</ref>}} | image = Eothunnus_salmoneus.jpg | image_caption = Restoration of ''Eothynnus salmoneus'' as a carangid | genus = Eothynnus | parent_authority = Woodward, 1901 | species = salmoneus | authority = Woodward, 1901 }}

'''''Eothynnus''''' is an extinct species of prehistoric jackfish that lived during the lower Eocene of Europe and eastern North America. It contains a single species, '''''E. salmoneus'''''.<ref name="sepkoskidb">{{cite journal|last=Sepkoski |first=Jack |title=A compendium of fossil marine animal genera |journal=Bulletins of American Paleontology |volume=364 |page=560 |year=2002 |url=http://strata.ummp.lsa.umich.edu/jack/showgenera.php?taxon=611&rank=class |accessdate=2009-02-27 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110723131237/http://strata.ummp.lsa.umich.edu/jack/showgenera.php?taxon=611&rank=class |archivedate=2011-07-23 }}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last1=Geology |first1=British Museum (Natural History) Department of |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZtEKAQAAIAAJ |title=Catalogue of the Fossil Fishes in the British Museum (Natural History): Actinopterygian Teleostomi of the suborders Isospondyli (in part), Ostariophysi, Apodes, Percesoces, Hemibranchii, Acanthopterygii, and Anacanthini |last2=Woodward |first2=Arthur Smith |date=1901 |publisher=order of the Trustees |language=en}}</ref> It is known primarily from some preserved skulls from what is now the Isle of Sheppey (as a part of the London Clay Lagerstatten) in England.<ref>{{Cite web |title=PBDB Taxon |url=https://paleobiodb.org/classic/basicTaxonInfo?taxon_no=263693 |access-date=2025-02-14 |website=paleobiodb.org}}</ref> A single vertebra is also known from the Nanjemoy Formation of Virginia, US.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Weems |first=Robert E. |date=2021 |title=ADDITIONS TO THE BONY FISH FAUNA FROM THE EARLY EOCENE NANJEMOY FORMATION OF MARYLAND AND VIRGINIA (U.S.A) |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/348579659_The_Mosasaur_The_Journal_of_the_Delaware_Valley_Paleontological_Society_Editor_Layout_Editor_ADDITIONS_TO_THE_BONY_FISH_FAUNA_FROM_THE_EARLY_EOCENE_NANJEMOY_FORMATION_OF_MARYLAND_AND_VIRGINIA_USA |journal=The Mosasaur : The Journal of the Delaware Valley Paleontological Society |volume=XI |pages=117-152}}</ref>

It was originally thought to be a tuna or mackerel, hence the generic name translating as "dawn" or "Eocene tuna."<ref name=":0" /> Later, it was reappraised to be a jackfish, related to ''Teratichthys'' and ''Eastmanalepes'' (syn. "''Caranx primaevus''").<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Monsch |first=Kenneth A. |date=2004 |title=Revision of the scombroid fishes from the Cenozoic of England |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/earth-and-environmental-science-transactions-of-royal-society-of-edinburgh/article/abs/revision-of-the-scombroid-fishes-from-the-cenozoic-of-england/4C0CBDC19BB39C4709617722D6FBE64C |journal=Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh |language=en |volume=95 |issue=3–4 |pages=445–489 |doi=10.1017/S0263593300001164 |bibcode=2004EESTR..95..445M |issn=1755-6929|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Bannikov |first=A. F. |date=1987 |title=On the taxonomy, composition and origin of the family Carangidae |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/308986252 |journal=Journal of Ichthyology |volume=27 |issue=1 |pages=1–8}}</ref> It is one of the largest fish known from the London Clay.<ref name=":1" />

==References== {{Reflist}}

Category:Carangidae Category:Eocene fish of Europe Category:Prehistoric percomorph genera Category:Monotypic prehistoric ray-finned fish genera Category:Ypresian genera Category:Fossils of England Category:Fossil taxa described in 1901 Category:Taxa named by Arthur Smith Woodward Category:Eocene fish of North America Category:Fossils of the United States