New Triassic fossil fish discovery in the Netherlands

Translated from Leidsch Dagblad daily in the Netherlands:

Billfish in Naturalis museum

Leiden – Naturalis has acquired a fossil of a new species which must have lived 200 to 250 million years ago. The billfish-like fish (Saurichthys diannae) was found by amateur paleontologist Herman Winkelhorst in the quarry of Winterswijk.

By Wilfred Simons – 27-5-2016, 17:36 (Update 27-5-2016, 17:36)

At the time, that area was in a coastal zone of the Tethys sea. That these billfish used to live also just offshore in shallow water, is proven by the fact that their eyes pointed upwards.

Winkelhof [sic; Winkelhorst] discovered a “graveyard” of about thirty young fish of the newly discovered species. That indicates that the sea at Winterswijk may have been a breeding ground for young life, like the current Wadden Sea. The amateur paleontologist donated the fossil to Naturalis.

See also here.

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