Osteoglossiformes is a relatively primitive order of ray-finned fish that contains two sub-orders, the Osteoglossoidei and the Notopteroidei. All of at least 245 living species inhabit freshwater. They are found in South America, Africa, Australia and southern Asia, having first evolved in Gondwana before that continent broke up. In 2008, several new species of marine osteoglossiforms were described from the Danish Eocene Fur Formation, dramatically increasing the diversity of this group. This implies that the Osteoglossomorpha is not a primary freshwater fish group with the osteoglossiforms having a typical Gondwana distribution.
Arowanas are freshwater bony fish of the subfamily Osteoglossinae, also known as bony tongues. In this family of fish, the head is bony and the elongated body is covered by large, heavy scales, with a mosaic pattern of canals. The dorsal and anal fins have soft rays and are long based, while the pectoral and ventral fins are small. The name "bonytongues" is derived from a toothed bone on the floor of the mouth, the "tongue", equipped with teeth that bite against teeth on the roof of the mouth. The arowana is a facultative air breather and can obtain oxygen from air by sucking it into its swim bladder, which is lined with capillaries like lung tissue.
The Zeiformes are a small order of exclusively marine ray-finned fishes most notable for the dories, a group of common food fish. The order consists of about 33 species in six extant families, mostly deep-sea types. The boarfishes (Caproidae) have been previously included in this order though they are currently included in the Perciformes.
Osteoglossidae is a family of large freshwater fish, which includes the arowanas and arapaima. They are commonly known as bonytongues. The family contains two extant subfamilies Arapaiminae and Osteoglossinae, with a total of five living genera. The extinct Phareodontinae are known from the Late Cretaceous and Paleogene.
The Museum of Natural Sciences of Belgium is a Brussels museum dedicated to natural history. It is a part of the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences.
The Carangidae are a family of ray-finned fish that includes the jacks, pompanos, jack mackerels, runners, trevallies, and scads. It is the largest of the six families included within the order Carangiformes. Some authorities classify it as the only family within that order but molecular and anatomical studies indicate that there is a close relationship between this family and the five former Perciform families which make up the Carangiformes.
Scleropages is a genus of fish in the family Osteoglossidae found in Asia and Australia. All of these species are carnivorous and have great jumping ability. These species are highly valued as aquarium fish, particularly by those from Asian cultures. In 2003, a study redescribed several naturally occurring color varieties of S. formosus into four separate species. The majority of researchers dispute these redescriptions, arguing that the published data are insufficient to justify recognizing more than one Southeast Asian species of Scleropages and that divergent haplotypes used to distinguish the color strains into isolated species were found within a single color strain, contradicting the findings. They are considered monotypic, consisting of closely related haplotypes based on color. The ancestor of the Australian arowanas: S. jardinii and S. leichardti, diverged from the ancestor of the Asian arowanas about 140 million years ago, during the Early Cretaceous period. The morphological similarity of all seven species shows that little evolutionary change has taken place recently for these ancient fish. The genus had a much wider distribution during the early Cenozoic, with fossil remains known from the Paleocene of Niger and Belgium, and from the Eocene of China.
Streptocephalus proboscideus, sometimes called the Sudanese fairy shrimp, is a species of fairy shrimp found in eastern Africa.
Ichthyodectiformes is an extinct order of marine stem-teleost ray-finned fish. The order is named after the genus Ichthyodectes, established by Edward Drinker Cope in 1870. Ichthyodectiforms are usually considered to be some of the closest relatives of the teleost crown group.
Pachythrissops is an extinct genus of ray-finned fish. It contains two species, P. laevis from the Purbeckian of England and P. propterus from the Tithonian of Germany. A third species, P. vectensis, has been reassigned to the elopiform genus Arratiaelops. Pachythrissops is often regarded as one of the most primitive members of the order Ichthyodectiformes; however, a phylogenetic analysis by Cavin et al. (2013) placed it and the related genus Ascalabothrissops outside the group.
Terricola is a subgenus of voles in the genus Microtus. The authority for this taxon is Fatio in 1867. Earlier use of the name by John Fleming has no formal taxonomic standing. Species in this subgenus are:
Paleontology or palaeontology is the study of prehistoric life forms on Earth through the examination of plant and animal fossils. This includes the study of body fossils, tracks (ichnites), burrows, cast-off parts, fossilised feces (coprolites), palynomorphs and chemical residues. Because humans have encountered fossils for millennia, paleontology has a long history both before and after becoming formalized as a science. This article records significant discoveries and events related to paleontology that occurred or were published in the year 2009.
Chirocentrites is an extinct genus of marine ray-finned fish in the order Ichthyodectiformes. It contains a single species, C. coroninii, from the Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian) of Slovenia. A potential specimen is also known from the Albian-aged Pietraroja Plattenkalk of southern Italy, but it has been suggested that this specimen actually represents Cladocyclus.
Chanopsis is an extinct genus of prehistoric freshwater bonytongue relative that lived from the late Aptian to the Albian stage of the Early Cretaceous epoch. It contains a single species, C. lombardi from the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Baleiichthys is a genus of extinct freshwater ray-finned fish, belonging to the teleosts. It lived in the Middle Jurassic, and its fossil remains have been found in northern Asia. Almost nothing is known about it.
Aphnelepis is an extinct genus of prehistoric freshwater ray-finned fish that lived during the Late Jurassic epoch. It contains a single species, A. australis, from the Talbragar River beds of New South Wales, Australia.
Opsithrissops is an extinct genus of prehistoric bony fish that lived during the Thanetian stage of the Paleocene epoch. It is a 120 centimetres (3.9 ft) fish in the family Osteoglossiformes which includes other bony-tongues such as the extant species of arowana and arapaima.
Ceramurus is an extinct genus of prehistoric marine ray-finned fish from the Late Jurassic. It contains a single species, C. macrocephalus from the Purbeck Group of England.
Autocrates is a genus of beetles in the Trictenotomidae family with species across the Indomalayan realm. They are sexually dimorphic with males having longer and more sinuate mandibles.
The Enchodontoidei are an extinct superorder of aulopiform fish known from the Early Cretaceous to the Eocene. They were among the dominant predatory marine fish groups in the Late Cretaceous, achieving a worldwide distribution. They were an extremely diverse group, with some developing fusiform body plans whereas others evolved elongated body plans with long beaks, superficially similar to eels and needlefish. They could also grow to very large sizes, as seen with Cimolichthys and Stratodus, the latter of which is the largest aulopiform known. Their most famous member is the widespread, abundant, and long-lasting genus Enchodus.
