Araripelepidotes

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Araripelepidotes
Temporal range: 122.46–109.0  Ma
Araripelepidotus temnurus araripe.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Clade: Ginglymodi
Order: Lepisosteiformes
Suborder: Lepisosteioidei
Genus: Araripelepidotes
(Silva Santos, 1990)
Type species
Lepidotes temnurus
(Agassiz, 1841)

Araripelepidotes is a genus of ginglymodian fish.

Habitat

Araripelepidotes was probably endemic to the Araripe Basin, and was commonly found in Santana formation, and rare in the Crato Formation, mostly in carbonate concretions, but uncommon in laminated limestones. [1] [2]

Contents

Taxonomic history

The type species A. temnurus was formerly placed in the genus Lepidotes , until it was moved to the new genus in 1990. [1] Formerly placed in the Semionotiformes, more recent morphological studies indicate that it is more closely related to extant gar, and is in fact more closely related to gar than "true" lepidotids such as Lepidotes. [3]

Paleoecology

Araripelepidotes was likely a toothless suction feeder, due to the development of its mobile maxilla and the presence of an interoperculum, and would have inhabited estuarine and freshwater environments. [4] It is the only lepisosteiform known from the Araripe Basin, except for Lepidotes wenzae. [1]

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crato Formation</span> Geologic formation of Early Cretaceous age in northeastern Brazil

The Crato Formation is a geologic formation of Early Cretaceous (Aptian) age in northeastern Brazil's Araripe Basin. It is an important Lagerstätte for palaeontologists. The strata were laid down mostly during the Aptian age, about 113 million years ago. It thought to have been deposited in a semi-arid lacustrine wetland environment.

<i>Irritator</i> Spinosaurid theropod dinosaur genus from the Early Cretaceous Period

Irritator is a genus of spinosaurid dinosaur that lived in what is now Brazil during the Albian stage of the Early Cretaceous Period, about 113 to 110 million years ago. It is known from a nearly complete skull found in the Romualdo Formation of the Araripe Basin. Fossil dealers had acquired this skull and sold it to the State Museum of Natural History Stuttgart. In 1996, the specimen became the holotype of the type species Irritator challengeri. The genus name comes from the word "irritation", reflecting the feelings of paleontologists who found the skull had been heavily damaged and altered by the collectors. The species name is a homage to the fictional character Professor Challenger from Arthur Conan Doyle's novels.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Romualdo Formation</span> Brazilian geologic formation

The Romualdo Formation is a geologic Konservat-Lagerstätte in northeastern Brazil's Araripe Basin where the states of Pernambuco, Piauí and Ceará come together. The geological formation, previously designated as the Romualdo Member of the Santana Formation, named after the village of Santana do Cariri, lies at the base of the Araripe Plateau. It was discovered by Johann Baptist von Spix in 1819. The strata were deposited during the Aptian stage of the Early Cretaceous in a lacustrine rift basin with shallow marine incursions of the proto-Atlantic. At that time, the South Atlantic was opening up in a long narrow shallow sea.

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<i>Lepidotes</i> Genus of fishes (fossil)

Lepidotes is an extinct genus of Mesozoic ray-finned fish. It has long been considered a wastebasket taxon, characterised by "general features, such as thick rhomboid scales and, for most of the species, by semi-tritorial or strongly tritorial dentition". with dozens of species assigned to it. Fossils attributed to Lepidotes have been found in Jurassic and Cretaceous rocks worldwide. It has been argued that Lepidotes should be restricted to species closely related to the type species L. gigas, which are only known from the Early Jurassic of Western and Central Europe, with most other species being not closely related, with other species transferred to new genera such as Scheenstia.Lepidotes belongs to Ginglymodi, a clade of fish whose only living representatives are the gars (Lepisosteidae). The type species L. gigas and close relatives are thought to be members of the family Lepidotidae, part of the order Lepisosteiformes within Ginglymodi, with other species occupying various other positions within Ginglymodi.

Brasileodactylus a genus of pterosaur from the Aptian-age lower Santana formation of Chapada do Araripe, Ceará, Brazil.

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Santanichthys diasii is a species of extinct fish that existed around 115 million years ago during the Albian age. S. diasii is regarded as the basal-most characiform, and is the earliest known member of Otophysi. It appears as a small fish, similar in appearance to a modern-day herring little more than 30 millimeters in length. Its most striking characteristic is the presence of a Weberian apparatus, which makes it the most primitive known member of the order Characiformes, the order in which modern-day tetras are classified. Santanichthys has been unearthed from numerous locations throughout Brazil, in rocks dating to the Cretaceous Period. Its presence in these strata is seen as an indicator for the biogeography and evolution of its order.

<i>Araripichthys</i> Extinct genus of ray-finned fishes

Araripichthys is an extinct genus of ray-finned fish that lived from the Aptian to Coniacian stages of the Cretaceous period. The genus is named after the Araripe Basin, where it was found in the Crato and Santana Formations. Other fossils of the genus have been found at Goulmima in Morocco, the Tlayua Formation of Mexico and the Apón Formation of Venezuela.

<i>Susisuchus</i> Extinct genus of reptiles

Susisuchus is an extinct genus of neosuchian mesoeucrocodylian crocodyliform from the Early Cretaceous of Brazil. Fossils have been found from the Nova Olinda Member of the Aptian-age Crato Formation in the Araripe and Lima Campos Basins of northeastern Brazil. Named in 2003, Susisuchus is the sole member of the family Susisuchidae, and is closely related to the clade Eusuchia, which includes living crocodilians. The type species is S. anatoceps, known from a single partial articulated skeleton that preserves some soft tissue. A second species, S. jaguaribensis, was named in 2009 from fragmentary remains.

<i>Scheenstia</i> Extinct genus of fishes

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Araripe Basin</span> Rift Basin in brazil famous for its pterosaur fossils

The Araripe Basin is a rift basin covering about 8,000 square kilometres (3,100 sq mi), in Ceará, Piauí and Pernambuco states of northeastern Brazil. It is bounded by the Patos and Pernambuco lineaments, and is situated east of the Parnaíba Basin, southwest of the Rio do Peixe Basin and northwest of the Tucano and Jatobá Basins.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Santana Group</span>

The Santana Group is a geologic group, formerly included as the middle part of the Araripe Group, in the Araripe Basin of northeastern Brazil. The group comprises the Crato, Ipubi and Romualdo Formations and is dated to the Aptian to Albian stages of the Early Cretaceous. The formations of the group were deposited in a lacustrine to subtidal shallow marine environment in the Araripe rift basin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ipubi Formation</span>

The Ipubi Formation is the middle geological formation of the Santana Group, the middle part of the Araripe Group, in the Araripe Basin of northeastern Brazil. The formation is dated to the Aptian to Albian stages of the Early Cretaceous, unconformably overlying the Crato Formation and unconformably overlain by the Romualdo Formation, formerly known as the Romualdo Member of the Santana Formation. The averaging 15 metres (49 ft) thick Ipubi Formation comprises shales and sandstones in the lower section and evaporites in the upper part of the formation, deposited in a transgressive to highstand lacustrine environment in the Araripe rift basin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Missão Velha Formation</span>

The Missão Velha Formation is a late Jurassic geologic formation in northeastern Brazil's Araripe Basin where the states of Pernambuco, Piauí and Ceará come together. The formation is the middle stratigraphic unit of the Vale do Carirí Group, overlying the Brejo Santo Formation and overlain by the Abaiara Formation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ginglymodi</span> Clade of ray-finned fishes

Ginglymodi is a clade of ray-finned fish containing modern-day gars (Lepisosteidae) & their extinct relatives in the order Lepisosteiformes, the extinct orders Semionotiformes and Kyphosichthyiformes, and various other extinct taxa. Ginglymodi is one of the two major subgroups of the infraclass Holostei, the other one being Halecomorphi, which contains the bowfin and eyespot bowfin and their fossil relatives.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lepidotidae</span> Extinct family of fish

Lepidotidae is an extinct family of fish, known from the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. Most species were originally assigned to the genus Lepidotes which was long considered a wastebasket taxon. Cladistic analysis has indicated that they are close relatives of gars, with both being members of the order Lepisosteiformes. Members of the family are known from both marine and freshwater environments. Their bulky body morphology and small median fins suggests that they were slow-moving fish that were capable of performing fine movements in order to grasp prey. Lepidotes sensu stricto had peg-like grasping marginal teeth and crushing palatal teeth, and is known to have consumed small crustaceans, while Scheenstia had low rounded crushing marginal teeth, indicating a durophagous diet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Obaichthyidae</span> Extinct family of ray-finned fishes

Obaichthyidae is an extinct family of ginglymodian ray-finned fish that lived in what is now Africa and South America during the Cretaceous period. It was erected in 2010 by Lance Grande to include the genera Dentilepisosteus and Obaichthys. In 2012, it was defined as a stem-based taxon containing all taxa more closely related to Obaichthys than to the genera Lepisosteus, Pliodetes or Lepidotes.

<i>Iemanja <span style="font-style:normal;">(fish)</span></i> Extinct genus of fishes

Iemanja is a genus of pycnodontiform fish from the Early Cretaceous, described from Romualdo Member of Santana Group. This genus is known from only one species, I. palma. This fish is named after Yemọja, water spirit in Brazilian mythology. With length up to 60 cm (24 in), it is characterized by long snout that is probably used to feed from crevices of reef habitats.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Brito, Paulo M.; Yabumoto, Yoshitaka (March 31, 2011). "An updated review of the fish faunas from the Crato and Santana formations in Brazil, a close relationship to the Tethys fauna" (PDF). Bull. Kitakyushu Mus. Nat. Hist. Hum. Hist., Ser. A. 9: 107–136.
  2. Rafael Matos, Lindoso; Maisey, John Graham; Calvalho, Ismar de Souza (2016). "Ichthyofauna from the Codó Formation, Lower Cretaceous (Aptian, Parnaíba Basin), Northeastern Brazil and their paleobiogeographical and paleoecological significance" (PDF). Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 447: 53–64. Bibcode:2016PPP...447...53L. doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2016.01.045.
  3. López-Arbarello, Adriana (2012-07-11). "Phylogenetic Interrelationships of Ginglymodian Fishes (Actinopterygii: Neopterygii)". PLOS ONE. 7 (7): e39370. Bibcode:2012PLoSO...739370L. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0039370 . ISSN   1932-6203. PMC   3394768 . PMID   22808031.
  4. Thies, Detlev (1996-09-19). "The jaws of Araripelepidotes temnurus (Agassiz, 1841) (Actinopterygii, Semionotiformes) from the Early Cretaceous of Brazil". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 16 (3): 369–373. Bibcode:1996JVPal..16..369T. doi:10.1080/02724634.1996.10011326. JSTOR   4523729.