Hemingwaya
| Hemingwaya Temporal range:
| |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Istiophoriformes |
| Family: | †Hemingwayidae Sytchevskaya and Prokofiev, 2002 |
| Genus: | †Hemingwaya Sytchevskaya and Prokofiev, 2002 |
| Species: | †H. sarissa
|
| Binomial name | |
| †Hemingwaya sarissa Sytchevskaya and Prokofiev, 2002
| |
Hemingwaya is an extinct genus of billfish in the monotypic family Hemingwayidae that lived during the Eocene epoch, approximately 56 to 34 million years ago. Members of this family are characterized by their elongated, spear-like bills, a feature that defines modern billfish such as swordfish and marlins.
The fossils of Hemingwaya provide insight into the early evolution of billfishes, representing one of the first known lineages to exhibit the characteristic bill-like morphology. These fish were part of the broader group of "billfish-like" species, which evolved specialized hunting adaptations for catching fast-moving prey. While the exact diversity within the family is limited, the fossil record indicates that Hemingwaya were part of the evolutionary stem group that led to the development of modern billfishes.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7]