Palaeonisciformes Temporal range: | |
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† Palaeoniscum restoration | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Actinopterygii |
Order: | † Palaeonisciformes Hay 1902 |
Suborders | |
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Synonyms | |
Palaeoniscida Moy-Thomas & Miles 1971 |
The Palaeonisciformes, commonly known as "palaeoniscoids" (also spelled "paleoniscoid", or alternatively "paleoniscids") are an extinct grouping of primitive ray-finned fish (Actinopterygii), spanning from the Silurian/Devonian to the Cretaceous. They are generally considered paraphyletic, but their exact relationships to living ray-finned fish are uncertain. [1] While some and perhaps most palaeoniscoids likely belong to the stem-group of Actinopteryii, [2] it has been suggested that some may belong to the crown group, [3] with some of these possibly related to Cladistia (containing bichirs) and/or Chondrostei (which contains sturgeons and paddlefish). [4] Many palaeoniscoids share a conservative body shape and a similar arrangement of skull bones, [5] though paleoniscoids as a whole exhibit considerable diversity in body shape. [6]
The systematics of fossil and extant fishes has puzzled ichthyologists since the time of Louis Agassiz, who first grouped all Palaeozoic ray-finned fishes together with Chondrostei (sturgeons, paddlefishes), gars, lungfishes, and acanthodians in his Ganoidei. Carl Hermann Müller later proposed to divide actinopterygians into three groups: Chondrostei, Holostei, and Teleostei. Later, Edward Drinker Cope included these three groups within Actinopteri. [7] The same classification is also used today, [8] though the definitions of these groups have changed significantly over the years. The sister group to Actinopteri are the Cladistia, which include Polypterus (bichirs), Erpetoichthys and their fossil relatives. All together are grouped as Actinopterygii.
A few additional classification schemes were proposed over the years. Lev Berg erected the superorder Palaeonisci, in which he included early actinopterygians that belonged to neither Chondrostei nor Polypteri (Cladistia). Mostly following Berg, Jean-Pierre Lehman grouped the Actinopterygii into 26 orders, among others the Palaeonisciformes with the two suborders Palaeoniscoidei and Platysomoidei. [7]
Numerous genera of early actinopterygians have been referred to either Palaeonisciformes or to one of its suborders based on superficial resemblance with either Palaeoniscum (Palaeoniscoidei) or Platysomus (Platysomoidei), especially during the early and middle parts of the 20th century. Palaeonisciformes, Palaeoniscoidei, and Platysomoidei have therefore become wastebasket taxa. They are not natural groups, but instead paraphyletic assemblages of the early members of several ray-finned fish lineages. Palaeoniscoidei have traditionally encompassed most Paleozoic actinopterygians, except those that exhibit atypical body forms (such as the deep-bodied Platysomoidei, or those assigned securely to any of the living groups of ray-finned fishes. [9] The same can also be said about the family Palaeoniscidae sensu lato, to which several genera not closely related to Palaeoniscum have been referred in the past.
The grouping of "palaeonisciforms" was based largely on shared plesiomorphic features, such as the forward position of the eye, the large gape or the presence of rhombic scales. However, such symplesiomorphies are not informative with regard to phylogeny, but rather an indication of common ancestry. In modern biology, taxonomists group taxa based on shared apomorphies (synapomorphies) in order to detect monophyletic groups (natural groups). They use computer software (e.g., PAUP) to determine the most likely evolutionary relationships between taxa, thereby putting previous hypotheses of such relationships to the test. As a consequence, many genera have been subsequently removed from Palaeonisciformes and referred to distinct orders (e.g., Saurichthyiformes).
The term Palaeonisciformes has mostly disappeared from the modern literature or is nowadays only used to refer to the "primitive" morphology of a taxon (e.g., "palaeonisciform skull shape" or "palaeoniscoid body shape"). In order to make the Paleonisciformes, Palaeoniscoidei or Palaeoniscidae monophyletic, these terms should only be used in a strict sense, i.e., when referring to the clade of actinopterygians that includes Palaeoniscum and the taxa closely related to it.
A monophyletic clade including several taxa classically referred to the Palaeonisciformes (e.g., Aesopichthys , Birgeria , Boreosomus , Canobius , Pteronisculus , Rhadinichthys ) was recovered in the cladistic analysis by Lund et al. [10] This clade, coined Palaeoniscimorpha, is also used in subsequent publications. [7] Recent cladistic analyses also recovered clades containing several genera that have historically been grouped within Palaeonisciformes, while excluding others. [11] [12] [13] Due to the delicate nature of fossils of ray-finned fishes and the incomplete knowledge of several taxa (especially with regard to the internal cranial anatomy), [13] there is still no consensus about the evolutionary relationships of several early actinopterygians previously grouped within Palaeonisciformes.
The following list includes species that have been referred to Palaeonisciformes (or Palaeoniscidae, respectively), usually because of superficial resemblance with Palaeoniscum freieslebeni. Many of these species are poorly known and have never been included in any cladistic analysis. Their inclusion in Palaeonisciformes (or Palaeoniscidae) is in most cases doubtful and requires confirmation by cladistic studies. Which taxa should be included in Palaeonisciformes sensu stricto (or Palaeoniscidae sensu stricto) and which ones moved to other orders or families, respecitively, is a matter of ongoing research.
This list includes families that at one time or another were placed in the order Palaeonisciformes. The species included in these families are often poorly known, and a close relationship with the family Palaeoniscidae is therefore doubtful unless confirmed by cladistic analyses. These families are therefore better treated as Actinopterygii incertae sedis for the time being. The evolutionary relationships of early actinopterygians is a matter of ongoing studies.
Andreolepis hedei , previously grouped within Palaeonisciformes, has proven so far to be the earliest-known actinopterygiian, living around 420 million years ago (Late Silurian in Russia, Sweden, Estonia, and Latvia. Actinopterygians underwent an extensive diversification during the Carboniferous, after the end-Devonian Hangenberg extinction.
Acipenseriformes is an order of basal ray-finned fishes that includes living and fossil sturgeons and paddlefishes (Acipenseroidei), as well as the extinct families Chondrosteidae and Peipiaosteidae. They are the second earliest diverging group of living ray-finned fish after the bichirs. Despite being early diverging, they are highly derived, having only weakly ossified skeletons that are mostly made of cartilage, and in modern representatives highly modified skulls.
Chondrostei is a group of non-neopterygian ray-finned fish. While the term originally referred to the paraphyletic grouping of all non-neopterygian ray-finned fish, it was redefined by Patterson in 1982 to be a clade comprising the Acipenseriformes and their extinct relatives.
Palaeoniscum is an extinct genus of ray-finned fish from the Permian period (Guadalupian-Lopingian) of England, Germany, Turkey, North America and Greenland, and possibly other regions. The genus was named Palaeoniscum in 1818 by Henri Marie Ducrotay de Blainville, but was later misspelled as Palaeoniscus by Blainville and other authors. Palaeoniscum belongs to the family Palaeoniscidae.
Saurichthys is an extinct genus of predatory ray-finned fish from the Triassic Period. It is the type genus of the family Saurichthyidae, and the most speciose and longest lasting genus in the family. This family also includes the Permian Eosaurichthys (China) and the Jurassic Saurorhynchus from Europe and North America, though it may be more appropriate to treat these as subgenera of Saurichthys, due to the genus Saurichthys otherwise being paraphyletic.
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.
Dicellopyge is an extinct genus of freshwater ray-finned fish that lived during the early Anisian age of the Middle Triassic epoch in what is now South Africa. It was originally named "Dicellopygae" by James Brough but the name was later corrected to Dicellopyge by Peter Hutchinson.
Amblypterus is an extinct genus of freshwater ray-finned fish that lived during the Gzhelian and Cisuralian epoch in what is now Europe and possibly India and Argentina. Potential indeterminate records stretch as far back as the early Carboniferous.
Cornuboniscus is an extinct genus of prehistoric freshwater ray-finned fish that lived during the Pennsylvanian epoch (Carboniferous), and the only member of the family Cornuboniscidae. It contains a single species, C. budensis from the Bashkirian/lower Westphalian age of what is now Cornwall, England. The genus Cornubonisus was named after the island of Cornubian, and the species name refers to the coastal town of Bude in Cornwall. The type specimen is held in the town's Castle Heritage Centre.
Whiteichthys is an extinct genus of prehistoric bony fish that lived during the Tournaisian age of the Mississippian epoch in what is now Greenland.
Euthynotus is an extinct genus of prehistoric bony fish that lived during the early Toarcian stage of the Early Jurassic epoch. It is generally considered the basalmost pachycormiform.
Scanilepis is an extinct genus of prehistoric bony fish that lived during the Rhaetian-?Hettangian ages. The type species, S. dubia, is known from the Rhaetian freshwater deposits of the Bjuv member of the Höganäs Formation, southwestern Sweden. A second species, S. spitzbergensis was mentioned from the Hettangian of the Festning section of the Grøfjorden area in Spitsbergen, Norway but was never described.
Cyranorhis is an extinct genus of prehistoric marine ray-finned fish that lived during the Serpukhovian age of the Carboniferous period. One species is known, C. bergeraci in the Bear Gulch Limestone what is now Montana, United States. It is named after French novelist Cyrano de Bergerac.
Cycloptychius is an extinct genus of prehistoric freshwater & marine ray-finned fish that existed throughout much of the Carboniferous period in Eurasia, and possibly into the Early Permian in South Africa. It was a member of the Rhadinichthyidae, a family of basal ray-finned fish that was formerly placed in the now-paraphyletic order Palaeonisciformes.
Cosmolepis is an extinct genus of prehistoric marine ray-finned fish that lived during the Early Jurassic epoch. It contains a single species, C. ornatus from the Blue Lias in what is now England. It is the only member of the family Cosmolepididae.
Coccolepis is an extinct genus of prehistoric marine ray-finned fish in the family Coccolepididae. Originally including most species within the family, it is now restricted to two species from the Late Jurassic Solnhofen Limestone of Germany. The holotype of C. bucklandi, designated and described by Louis Agassiz, was thought to be lost but was later rediscovered in Neuchâtel.
Decazella is an extinct genus of prehistoric freshwater ray-finned fish that lived during the late Carboniferous period. It contains a single species, D. vetteri from the Gzhelian (Stephanian) age of what is now Occitania, France.
Palaeoniscidae is an extinct family of "palaeoniscoid" ray-finned fishes (Actinopterygii). The family includes the genus Palaeoniscum and potentially other Palaeozoic and Mesozoic early actinopterygian genera. The name is derived from the Ancient Greek words παλαιός and ὀνίσκος.
Saurichthyiformes is an extinct order of ray-finned fish which existed in Asia, Africa, Australia, Europe and North America, during the late Permian to early Middle Jurassic. Saurichthyiiformes comprise two families, Saurichthyidae and Yelangichthyidae. Yelangichthyidae is monotypic, containing only the genus Yelangichthys. The gar or needlefish-like Saurichthyidae is primarily known from the genus Saurichthys. Additionally, the subgenera SaurorhynchusCostasaurichthys, Eosaurichthys, Lepidosaurichthys, and Sinosaurichthys are frequently used to group species, and are sometimes considered separate genera. Species are known from both marine end freshwater deposits. They had their highest diversity during the Early and Middle Triassic. Their phylogenetic position is uncertain, while they have often been considered members of Chondrostei, and thus related to living sturgeons and paddlefish, phylogenetic analysis of well-preserved remains has considered this relationship equivocal. They may actually belong to the stem-group of Actinopterygii, and thus not closely related to any living group of ray-finned fish.
Ptycholepiformes are an extinct order of prehistoric ray-finned fish that existed during the Triassic period and the Early Jurassic epoch. The order includes the genera Acrorhabdus, Ardoreosomus, Boreosomus, Chungkingichthys, Ptycholepis, and Yuchoulepis. Although several families have been proposed, some studies place all these genera in the same family, Ptycholepididae.
Coccolepididae is an extinct family of ray-finned fish, known from the Early Jurassic to Early Cretaceous, most of which were originally referred to the type genus Coccolepis. They had a widespread distribution, being found in North and South America, Australia, Asia and Europe. They are mostly known from freshwater environments, though several species have been found in marine environments. They are morphologically conservative, and have poorly ossified endo and exoskeletons, which usually results in poor preservation. This makes it difficult to distinguish species. They are generally small fish, with the largest known specimens reaching a length of 210 mm. Historically, they have been classified as members of “Palaeonisciformes”, a paraphyletic grouping of non-neopterygian fish, due to their plesiomorphic conservative morphology closely resembling those of many other groups of primitive fish. Some recent authors have suggested that they may belong to the order Chondrostei as relatives of the Acipenseriformes.