Fish
Xiphactinus
Its fossils include finds from the southern and southwestern United States.
Xiphactinus was a huge predatory bony fish from the Cretaceous seas.
Three stages. One companion.
Game artwork
AI-generated, stylized game illustrations. These designs and growth stages are imaginative, not scientific reconstructions.
Xiphactinus at a glance
- Diet
- Carnivore
- It is interpreted as a consumer of other animals. Hunting and scavenging are not mutually exclusive behaviors.
- When it lived
- Cretaceous
- Group
- Ichthyodectidae
- Ichthyodectids
- Fossil locations
- Argentina, Venezuela, United States, Canada
- Places where fossils have been found
Beyond the game
The real Xiphactinus
It was a predatory marine fish that could reach five or six meters. It belonged to the ichthyodectiformes, an extinct group related to current teleosts.
Fossils have been found in the southern and southwestern United States, among other places. At an estimated five or six meters long, this unfamiliar fish reached an impressive size. It belonged to an extinct group related to living teleost fishes.
This grouping describes evolutionary relationships. Its members share ancestors; they do not form a chain in which one must turn into another.
Fossil discoveries
Selected fossil records · present-day map
Map references
Map: Natural Earth, public domain. Fossil records: linked collections and publications.A note on the science
Fossils have been found in the southern and southwestern United States, among other places. At an estimated five or six meters long, this unfamiliar fish reached an impressive size. It belonged to an extinct group related to living teleost fishes.
Sources & text credits
Explore the references behind this profile.
- Xiphactinus
Wikipedia contributors · Spanish source
Educational text adapted and translated from this article by Wikipedia contributors. The revision link, when captured in the source catalogue, identifies the source version.
- Xiphactinus
Wikipedia contributors · English source
Educational text adapted and translated from this article by Wikipedia contributors. The revision link, when captured in the source catalogue, identifies the source version.
- Ichthyodectidae
Wikipedia contributors · English source
Educational text adapted and translated from this article by Wikipedia contributors. The revision link, when captured in the source catalogue, identifies the source version.
- Ray-finned fish
Wikipedia contributors · English source
Educational text adapted and translated from this article by Wikipedia contributors. The revision link, when captured in the source catalogue, identifies the source version.
Educational text adapted in English from the existing Wikipedia-backed Dinosgacha catalogue and linked articles by Wikipedia contributors.
Existing English translations have been selected and arranged for this encyclopedia. Repeated period and diet text is omitted where those fields already carry it. Unknown facts remain unfilled; unreviewed geological age phrases are omitted and period labels replace numerical ages.
The adapted educational text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0. This text license does not apply to the game illustrations.