Melvius is agenus ofvidalamiinamiidray-finned fish from theLate Cretaceous.[3] The type species,Melvius thomasi, was described by Bryant in 1987 fromHell Creek Formation.[4] A second speciesMelvius chauliodous, was named and described by Hall and Wolburg in 1989 fromKirtland Formation,[5] and it is now considered to be one of the index taxa of theKirtlandian land-vertebrate age.[6] Both species ofMelvius were very large at its size. A vertebral remain ofM. thomasi would belongs to fish with standard length (length between tip of snout and the base of the caudal fin) of 161 cm (5.28 ft), and there are some specimens exceeds height of that vertebra.[4] Total length of this species would be at least 193–205 cm (6.33–6.73 ft).[7] However,M. thomasi would be a “dwarf” compared toM. chauliodous, a specimen ofM. chauliodous with abdominal centra which is 6.57 cm (2.59 in) wide would indicate standard length over 2 m (6.6 ft), and there is even larger abdominal centra which is 7.3 cm (2.9 in) wide.[8]
^K. M. Cantalice, A. M. Martinez-Melo, and V. A. Romero-Mayén. 2019. The paleoichthyofauna housed in the Colección Nacional de Paleontología of Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Zoosystematics and Evolution 95(2):429-452
^abL. J. Bryant. 1987. A new genus and species of Amiidae (Holostei; Osteichthyes) from the Late Cretaceous of North America, with comments on the phylogeny of the Amiidae. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 7(4):349-361
^L. Grande and W. E. Bemis. 1998. A comprehensive phylogenetic study of amiid fishes (Amiidae) based on comparative skeletal anatomy. An empirical search for interconnected patterns of natural history. Society of Vertebrate Paleontology Memoir 4. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 18(1, suppl.):1-690
.jpg)
