Knightia

genus of fishes (fossil)

Knightia is an extinct genus of freshwater fish that lived in the lakes and rivers of North America and Asia during the Eocene epoch. It was discovered by David Starr Jordan in 1907. Knightia is Wyoming's state fossil, belonging to the same taxonomic family as herring and sardines. It likely fed on algae and diatoms, as well as smaller fish and insects.

Artist's reconstruction

Species

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Predators

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Bigger species preyed on Knightia, such as Diplomystus, Lepisosteus, Amphiplaga, Mioplosus, Phareodus, Amia, and Astephus.

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References

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  1. Jordan, D. S. 1907. "The fossil fishes of California; with supplementary notes on other species of extinct fishes". Bulletin Department of Geology, University of California 5:136.
  2. http://soswy.state.wy.us/SecretaryDesk/StateInfo_Symbols.aspx Archived 2011-09-06 at the Wayback Machine.
 
Knightia alta specimen


Taxon identifiers
  • Wikidata: Q288279
  • Wikispecies: Knightia (Clupeidae)
  • BOLD: 663480
  • Fossilworks: 35455
  • GBIF: 3238478
  • iNaturalist: 1205254