Ferromirum, a new symmoriiform from Morocco

[Halichoeres]

Meet Ferromirum oukherbouchi, a new symmoriiform stem-ratfish (in the same group as Stethacanthus, Falcatus, and other sharklike holocephalans). The genus names is Latin for "miraculous iron," after the iron nodule that preserved the cartilaginous skeleton in three dimensions. They're able to reconstruct the gill arches and infer a lot about the jaw function, which involved a lot of complex rotation to expose prey to the maximum number of teeth.

This painting shows what Ferromirum might have looked like in life, along with some thylacocephalan arthropods (Concavicaris).



Frey et al., open access in Communications Biology: https://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-020-01394-2#Sec15

[Faelrin]

Definitely reminded me of Falcatus. Really cute restoration of it, along with the little Concavicaris floating or swimming along it.

The fossil looks amazingly well preserved. What an excellent find.