Stratum.black
Phareodus encaustus — Phareodus encaustus Cope
Phareodus encaustus Cope — Smithsonian Institution (NMNHPALEO), Smithsonian Open Access, CC0

Fish

Phareodus encaustus

Bony-tongue fish

Phareodus is the large-scaled bony-tongue fish of the Green River Formation, related to living arowanas, with prominent conical teeth and a long anal fin. Complete specimens 30–50 cm long are premium Green River fish, and P. testis is the smaller relative. Its big scales make painted enhancement easy to spot under magnification.

PhylumChordata
ClassActinopterygii
OrderOsteoglossiformes
FamilyOsteoglossidae
GroupFish
Rank (PBDB)genus· Paleobiology Database
AuthorLeidy 1873· Paleobiology Database
Classification (PBDB)Chordata › Osteichthyes › Osteoglossiformes › Osteoglossidae· Paleobiology Database
Range (PBDB)72.2–33.9 Ma· Paleobiology Database
PBDB occurrences16· Paleobiology Database

Photographs

Phareodus encaustus — Phareodus acutus Leidy
Phareodus acutus Leidy — Smithsonian Institution (NMNHPALEO), Smithsonian Open Access, CC0
Phareodus encaustus — Phareodus encaustus Cope, 1871 (NHMUK PV P 64636 a (1) $1)
Phareodus encaustus Cope, 1871 (NHMUK PV P 64636 a (1) $1) — © The Trustees of the Natural History Museum, London, Natural History Museum (London) Data Portal, CC BY 4.0

Age

Formations

Elsewhere

Cite this article

Stratum Study. "Phareodus encaustus" (Taxon). Stratum Study pack 2026.09, as of 2026-09-19. https://stratum.black/study/taxa/phareodus-encaustus. Accessed 2026-09-20.

BibTeX · CSL-JSON

@misc{stratum-phareodus-encaustus,
  title        = {Phareodus encaustus},
  author       = {{Stratum Study}},
  howpublished = {\url{https://stratum.black/study/taxa/phareodus-encaustus}},
  year         = {2026},
  note         = {Taxon article, Stratum Study pack 2026.09, as of 2026-09-19; sources: stratum, pbdb, wikidata, smithsonian, nhm. Accessed 2026-09-20.}
}

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