Mene rhombea (Eocene fish) BIRUG 10070

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BIRUG 10070 represents a significant find from the Eocene epoch, a period spanning approximately 56-34 million years ago, when the Mene rhombea fish thrived in what is now northern Italy. This region was once home to the fauna of the northwestern arm of the Tethys Sea, which was contracting and becoming increasingly tropical at that time. Given its similarity to a living species from the same genus - Mene maculata - scientists have made educated predictions about the ecological habits of BIRUG 10070. With its small mouth turned upwards, it's likely this fossil fish relied on plankton as its primary food source. The detailed scan of this specimen was conducted using an Artec Spider 3D scanner by Courtney Szanto and Andrew Jones.