Acanthurus

Acanthurus is a genus of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Acanthuridae, which includes the surgeonfishes, unicornfishes and tangs, found in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Ocean. They are found in tropical oceans, especially near coral reefs, with most species in the Indo-Pacific but a few are found in the Atlantic Ocean. As other members of the family, they have a pair of spines, one on either side of the base of the tail which are dangerously sharp.

Acanthurus

H. Zell · CC BY-SA 3.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Sits inside
AcanthuridaePBDB
Diet
grazerPBDB, for Acanthuridae
Life habit
aquaticPBDB, for Acanthuridae
Motility
fast-movingPBDB, for Acanthuridae

Time the record covers

At least 48 million years on record.

The record covers at least 48.07 Mya to 11.7 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 56 Mya to 0 Mya.

Paleocene — about 0 of 10 occurrencesEocene — about 2 of 10 occurrencesEoceneOligocene — about 0 of 10 occurrencesMiocene — about 6 of 10 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 1 of 10 occurrencesPleistocene — about 0 of 10 occurrences57–55 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences55–53 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences53–51 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences51–50 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences50–48 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences25–23 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences23–21 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences21–19 Mya — about 0.9 occurrences19–17 Mya — about 1 occurrence17–15 Mya — about 1 occurrence15–13 Mya — about 2 occurrences13–11 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences5.7–3.8 Mya — about 0.9 occurrences3.8–1.9 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences1.9–0 Mya — about 1 occurrence48.07 Mya11.7 ka57 Mya0 Mya

10 occurrences of Acanthurus on record, most of them in the Miocene. The Paleobiology Database records this as a living group. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

10 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

3 formations

Lagos-Portimão — 37.08°N, 8.28°WLagos-Portimão — 37.12°N, 8.54°WLagos-Portimão — 37.08°N, 8.67°WRío Banano — 9.92°N, 83.55°WGoose Creek — 32.83°N, 79.99°W

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Acanthurus has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 4 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Acanthurus and its relatives

Miocene

Where Acanthurus and its relatives were recorded in the Miocene.

Found in the same rock

293 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 9 sites for Acanthurus, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

6 references

Each of the 10 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content3

Picture of Acanthurus

Credit
H. Zell
Licence
CC BY-SA 3.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

CT scan

Licence
In Copyright
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record
Specimen
Varanus acanthurus insulanicus · UTA:UTA-R:13015

3D model

Source
Sketchfab
Credit
mRiot
Licence
CC Attribution
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record

Smithsonian Open Access was not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itAcanthuridae through timeFormations of the MioceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Forskal 1775