Toarcocephalus morlok, a new coccolepidid from the Jurassic of Germany

[Halichoeres]

Meet †Toarcocephalus morloki, from the Posidonia Shale of early Jurassic Germany. You probably know it best for its plesiosaurs and ichthyosaurs. The holotype is only a skull, which the authors suspect was regurgitated by another animal after eating it.

This reconstruction has to speculate a bit on the body:

The genus name means "head from the Toarcian [Early Jurassic]" and the specific epithet references the Morlocks from HG Wells's The Time Machine.

Open access in Palaeontologia Electronica: https://palaeo-electronica.org/content/2024/5197-new-toarcian-coccolepidid-fish