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  • RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT

This giant extinct salmon had tusks like a warthog

Scientists initially thought that the outsized teeth were fangs, giving rise to the ‘sabre-toothed salmon’ nickname.
Oncorhynchus rastrosus. CT model of Holotype, UO F-26799, skull in right lateral view with a stylized drawing of the originally proposed “sabertoothed” position of the isolated premaxilla (top-left); UO_A in anterior view of skull, prior to complete preparation and CT scan (bottom-left); Artist’s rendering skull of male iconic fish with accurate spike-tooth configuration (top right); Artist’s rendering of complete female iconic fish with accurate spike-tooth configuration (bottom-right).

The now-extinct salmon species Oncorhynchus rastrosus had ‘tusks’ protruding from its snout (right top and bottom, artist’s illustration; top left, scan of skull with illustration of the originally proposed position of the teeth; bottom left, skull). Credit: K. M. Claeson et al./PLoS One (CC-BY 4.0)

Many animal families include an enormous extinct relative with impressive teeth — for example, the dire wolf (Aenocyon dirus) or sabre-toothed cats. The salmon family also has such an ancestor. Oncorhynchus rastrosus, which lived in the Pacific Northwest region of what is now North America millions of years ago, reached 2.7 metres long — making it the largest member of the salmon family ever discovered. It was originally thought to have fang-like teeth, which led to its common name: the sabre-toothed salmon.

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Nature 629, 11 (2024)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-024-01146-w

References

  1. Claeson, K. M., Sidlauskas, B. L., Troll, R., Prescott, Z. M. & Davis, B. E. PLoS ONE 19, e0300252 (2024).

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