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Description
The Pechi Boxback (Platynota micropterygius) is a species of Peltonotid Premnogenoid Ichthyomorph from the Crater.

Boxbacks lived on Nijin-Konai around 51-43 million years ago.

They once lived in the Northern hemisphere, along coastal margins in Sea Prairie habitats, where the abundant soft-bodied osteophytes and orange grasses offered them ample food.

Contrary to modern-day Enetodontids, Peltonotids were a mostly herbivorous group and used to forage on the abundant plant life of their habitat.

The specialized buccal apparatus of the Paleostomi, originally optimized for a predatory lifestyle, developed a unique set of adaptations to facilitate this dietary shift.

The Protomaxillo-massenteric plate—originated by the fusing of the Premaxillary, Maxillary and Massenteric plates—closes onto itself into a dermocranial symphysis along the medial line of the ventral section of the cranium.

This unique adaptation creates an inner chamber inside the cranial armour, easily sealed by the specialized Mandibles.

The long prehensile tuberculus, tucked inside the cranial chamber, is used by the animal to pick the soft-bodied osteophytes from the loose sediment and stockpile them inside of the latter.

When the chamber is filled, the animal will seal it and use the tuberculus to gradually flood it with gastric fluids, which will slowly soften up and start digesting the stored contents.

During this process, the Boxback will rest on the seafloor, the hard shell protecting the vulnerable animal from predation.

By flooding and draining the chamber several times they can use the mandibles to grind the osteophytes to help break down the strong fibres that make up their food source.

Due to the unfused arrangement of most dermocranial plates, fossilization of the specimens was fragmentary, leading to most fossils being single loose and crushed plates.

Although the microstructure of the plates was clearly of Enetodontian origin, the nature of the organism remained shrouded in mystery for many years, up until living, allochronous specimens were discovered inside the Crater.

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Description
The Pechi Boxback (Platynota micropterygius) is a species of Peltonotid Premnogenoid Ichthyomorph from the Crater.

Boxbacks lived on Nijin-Konai around 51-43 million years ago.

They once lived in the Northern hemisphere, along coastal margins in Sea Prairie habitats, where the abundant soft-bodied osteophytes and orange grasses offered them ample food.

Contrary to modern-day Enetodontids, Peltonotids were a mostly herbivorous group and used to forage on the abundant plant life of their habitat.

The specialized buccal apparatus of the Paleostomi, originally optimized for a predatory lifestyle, developed a unique set of adaptations to facilitate this dietary shift.

The Protomaxillo-massenteric plate—originated by the fusing of the Premaxillary, Maxillary and Massenteric plates—closes onto itself into a dermocranial symphysis along the medial line of the ventral section of the cranium.

This unique adaptation creates an inner chamber inside the cranial armour, easily sealed by the specialized Mandibles.

The long prehensile tuberculus, tucked inside the cranial chamber, is used by the animal to pick the soft-bodied osteophytes from the loose sediment and stockpile them inside of the latter.

When the chamber is filled, the animal will seal it and use the tuberculus to gradually flood it with gastric fluids, which will slowly soften up and start digesting the stored contents.

During this process, the Boxback will rest on the seafloor, the hard shell protecting the vulnerable animal from predation.

By flooding and draining the chamber several times they can use the mandibles to grind the osteophytes to help break down the strong fibres that make up their food source.

Due to the unfused arrangement of most dermocranial plates, fossilization of the specimens was fragmentary, leading to most fossils being single loose and crushed plates.

Although the microstructure of the plates was clearly of Enetodontian origin, the nature of the organism remained shrouded in mystery for many years, up until living, allochronous specimens were discovered inside the Crater.

Join the community:

discord.gg/Ss24Yme