Berycopsis

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Berycopsis
Temporal range: Cenomanian–Campanian
Berycopsis (36908826651).jpg
Specimen of B. elegans at Oxford University Museum of Natural History
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Polymixiiformes
Family: Polymixiidae
Genus: Berycopsis
Agassiz in Dixon, 1850
Species

See text

Berycopsis is an extinct genus of marine ray-finned fish from the Late Cretaceous period. Fossils are known from England, Germany, and Lebanon. [1] [2] A potential specimen is known from the Czech Republic. [3]

It is generally placed among the beardfish in the family Polymixiidae. However, one 2009 study found it to be a more basal acanthomorph, and tentatively placed it as Beryciformes incertae sedis. However, later studies have continued to place it in the Polymixiidae. [4] [5] [6] [7]

The following species are known:

The species Platycormus gibbosusvon der Marck, 1885 may also belong to this genus, but the holotype has been lost and thus nothing about it is known. B. elegans and B. germanus may also be synonymous with each other, but not enough about the former's morphology to decide this. [4]

Berycopsis was about 35 centimetres (14 in) long and one of the earliest known members of the Acanthopterygii, the group that includes the present day barracuda, swordfish, seahorses, and flatfish. Like its modern relatives, the first fin rays in the dorsal and anal fins were modified into defensive spines, and the pelvic fins were located close to the pectoral fins. Berycopsis was one of the earliest fish known to have these features, which are widespread today. [2]

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References

  1. "PBDB". paleobiodb.org. Retrieved 2024-03-09.
  2. 1 2 Palmer, D., ed. (1999). The Marshall Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals. London: Marshall Editions. p. 41. ISBN   1-84028-152-9.
  3. Ekrt, Boris; Košt'ák, Martin; Mazuch, Martin; Voigt, Silke; Wiese, Frank (2008-08-01). "New records of teleosts from the Late Turonian (Late Cretaceous) of the Bohemian Cretaceous Basin (Czech Republic)". Cretaceous Research. 29 (4): 659–673. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2008.01.013. ISSN   0195-6671.
  4. 1 2 Dietze, Kathrin (2009-06-01). "Morphology and phylogenetic relationships of certain neoteleostean fishes from the Upper Cretaceous of Sendenhorst, Germany". Cretaceous Research. 30 (3): 559–574. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2008.11.001. ISSN   0195-6671.
  5. Murray, Alison M. (2014). "Mid-Cretaceous acanthomorph fishes with the description of a new species from the Turonian of Lac des Bois, Northwest Territories, Canada". Vertebrate Anatomy Morphology Palaeontology. 1: 101–115. doi:10.18435/B5CC78. ISSN   2292-1389.
  6. Friedman, Matt; Beckett, Hermione T.; Close, Roger A.; Johanson, Zerina (2016). "The English Chalk and London Clay: two remarkable British bony fish Lagerstätten". Geological Society, London, Special Publications. 430 (1): 165–200. doi:10.1144/SP430.18. ISSN   0305-8719.
  7. Schrøder, Ane Elise; Rasmussen, Jan Audun; Møller, Peter Rask; Carnevale, Giorgio (2022-08-31). "A new beardfish (Teleostei, Polymixiiformes) from the Eocene Fur Formation, Denmark". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 42 (2). doi:10.1080/02724634.2022.2142914. ISSN   0272-4634.