Lignobrycon

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Lignobrycon
Temporal range: Oligocene to present
Lignobrycon myersi specimens (9382613) (cropped).png
Specimen of L. myersi
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Characiformes
Family: Triportheidae
Subfamily: Triportheinae
Genus: Lignobrycon
C. H. Eigenmann & G. S. Myers, 1929
Type species
Lignobrycon ligniticus
Woodward, 1898
Synonyms

Lignobrycon is a genus of freshwater ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Triportheidae, the hatchet characins. This genus contains one know extant species, L. myersi , and one, or more, extinct species. The fishes in this genus are found in South America.

Fossil specimens of Lignobrycon ligniticus Lignobrycon ligniticus (P9012).tif
Fossil specimens of Lignobrycon ligniticus

A fossil species is also known, † Lignobrycon ligniticus (Woodward, 1898) from the Oligocene-aged Tremembé Formation of Brazil. This species was actually the first described member of the genus and was recovered from lignite deposits, hence the name Lignobrycon. It was only after the description of the fossil L. ligniticus that the extant L. myersi was identified, being described in the genus Moojenichthys. In 1998, the relationship between the fossil and extant species was identified, and L. myersi was also moved to the genus Lignobrycon, making the genus extant once again. [1]

Species

Ligbobrycon contains the following species:

A second potential fossil species, † Lignobrycon altus (Santos, 1946) has also been identified from Late Pliocene/Early Pleistocene-aged shales of Brazil, but these remains are poorly preserved and it may not even represent a characiform. [2] [3]

References

  1. Malabarba, Maria Cláudia S. L. (1998). "Phylogeny of Fossil Characiformes and Paleobiogeography of the Tremembé Formation, São Paulo, Brazil.". Phylogeny and Classification of Neotropical Fishes. Part 1 - Fossils and Geological Evidence. pp. 69–84.
  2. Abe, Kelly T.; Mariguela, Tatiane C.; Avelino, Gleisy S.; Foresti, Fausto; Oliveira, Claudio (2014-07-08). "Systematic and historical biogeography of the Bryconidae (Ostariophysi: Characiformes) suggesting a new rearrangement of its genera and an old origin of Mesoamerican ichthyofauna". BMC Evolutionary Biology. 14 (1): 152. Bibcode:2014BMCEE..14..152A. doi: 10.1186/1471-2148-14-152 . ISSN   1471-2148. PMC   4109779 . PMID   25005252.
  3. Novacek, Michael J.; Marshall, Larry G. (1976). "Early Biogeographic History of Ostariophysan Fishes" . Copeia. 1976 (1): 1–12. doi:10.2307/1443767. ISSN   0045-8511. JSTOR   1443767.