Megalichthyiformes

Megalichthyiformes Temporal range: 396–273  Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N Middle Devonian to early Permian
Life restoration of Megalichthys hibberti
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Clade:	Tetrapodomorpha
Clade:	† Megalichthyiformes Coates & Friedman, 2010
Subgroups
† Gogonasus † Gyroptychius † Litoptychus † Medoevia † Osteolepis † Megalichthyidae

Megalichthyiformes is an extinct clade of basal tetrapodomorphs which first appeared during the Devonian period. It was named in 2010 by Michael I. Coates and Matt Friedman, who defined it as a stem-based taxon containing all tetrapodomorphs closer to Megalichthys than to Eusthenopteron . ^[1]

Below is a cladogram showing Megalichthyiformes modified from Swartz (2012). ^[2]

Megalichthyiformes	† Gogonasus † Gyroptychius † Osteolepis † Medoevia †Megalichthyidae

References

1. Coates, M. I.; Friedman, M. (2010). "Litoptychus bryanti and characteristics of stem tetrapod neurocrania". In Elliott, D. K.; Maisey, J. G.; Yu, X.; Miao, D. (eds.). Morphology, Phylogeny and Paleobiogeography of Fossil Fishes. München: F. Pfeil. pp. 389–416. ISBN   978-3-89937-122-2.
2. Swartz, B. (2012). "A marine stem-tetrapod from the Devonian of Western North America". PLOS ONE. 7 (3) e33683. Bibcode:2012PLoSO...733683S. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0033683 . PMC   3308997 . PMID   22448265.