Megalocoelacanthus

Megalocoelacanthus dobiei is an extinct species of giant latimeriid coelacanth lobe-finned fish which lived during the Lower Campanian epoch until possibly the early Maastrichtian in the Late Cretaceous period in Appalachia, the Western Interior Seaway and Mississippi Embayment. Its disarticulated remains have been recovered from the Eutaw Formation, Mooreville Chalk Formation, and Blufftown Formation of Alabama, Mississippi, and Georgia, and also from the Niobrara Formation of Kansas. Although no complete skeleton is known, careful examination of skeletal elements demonstrate it is closely related to the Jurassic-aged coelacanthid Libys. The species is named for herpetologist James L. Dobie. It has been estimated to have been 3.5–4.5 metres (11–15 ft) in length.^[3][4][5]

Megalocoelacanthus Temporal range: Late Cretaceous, 87–66 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N [1][2]
Megalocoelacanthus dobiei mounted skull in the Rocky Mountain Dinosaur Resource Center in Woodland Park, Colorado
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinistia
Order:	Coelacanthiformes
Suborder:	Latimerioidei
Family:	Latimeriidae
Genus:	†Megalocoelacanthus Schwimmer et al., 1994
Species:	†M. dobiei
Binomial name
†Megalocoelacanthus dobiei Schwimmer et al., 1994

Life restoration