Melvius

Melvius is a genus of vidalamiin amiid ray-finned fish from the Late Cretaceous.^[3] The type species, Melvius thomasi, was described by Bryant in 1987 from Hell Creek Formation.^[4] A second species Melvius chauliodous, was named and described by Hall and Wolburg in 1989 from Kirtland Formation,^[5] and it is now considered to be one of the index taxa of the Kirtlandian land-vertebrate age.^[6]

Melvius Temporal range: Late Cretaceous, 74.8–66 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N Possible Turonian record[1][2]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Clade:	Halecomorphi
Order:	Amiiformes
Family:	Amiidae
Subfamily:	†Vidalamiinae
Tribe:	†Vidalamiini
Genus:	†Melvius Bryant, 1987
Type species
†Melvius thomasi Bryant, 1987
Species
†M. thomasi Bryant, 1879 (type) †M. chauliodous (Hall and Wolburg, 1989 [originally Amia? chauliodous])
Synonyms
Amia? chauliodous Hall and Wolburg, 1989

Description

Both species of Melvius were very large. A vertebral remain of M. thomasi would have belonged to a 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 that exceed the 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 was dwarfed by M. chauliodous, as a specimen of M. chauliodous with abdominal centra which is 6.57 cm (2.59 in) wide would indicate a standard length of over 2 m (6.6 ft), and there is even larger abdominal centra which is 7.3 cm (2.9 in) wide.^[8]