Psilichthys

Last updated

Psilichthys
Temporal range: Lower Cretaceous Aptian–Albian
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Family: Coccolepidae
Genus: Psilichthys
Hall, 1900
Type species
Psilichthys selwyni
Hall, 1900

Psilichthys is an extinct genus of prehistoric bony fish from Eumeralla Formation, the Lower Cretaceous epoch of what is now Victoria, Australia, known from single species P. selwyni. This is the first Mesozoic fossil vertebrate named from Victoria. [1]

Contents

Classification

Due to the only known fossil of Psilichthys is incomplete holotype specimen, its classification is discussed for years. It was originally described as a possibly palaeoniscid or chondrosteid. [2] It has also previously been referred to the family Birgeriidae. Waldman (1971) denied interpretation as chondrosteid, considering the character that lacked scales which used to classify it as acipenseriform, is misidentification and it preserved some of scales. Waldman suggested that is likely to be a palaeoniscid that belongs to Coccolepidae, although due to preservation it is tentative. [3] It is not belong to birgeriid considering differences from Birgeria . [3] [4] However, if identification as acipenseriform is true, it would be the only member of that group known from the southern hemisphere. [5] [6]

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Monotrematum</i> Extinct genus of monotremes

Monotrematum sudamericanum is an extinct monotreme species from the Paleocene (Peligran) Salamanca Formation in Patagonia, Argentina. It is one of only two monotremes found outside Oceania.

<i>Kollikodon</i> Extinct genus of mammals

Kollikodon is an extinct species of mammal, considered to be an early monotreme. It is known only from an opalised dentary fragment, with one premolar and two molars in situ, as well as a referred maxillary fragment containing the last premolar and all four molars. The fossils were found in the Griman Creek Formation at Lightning Ridge, New South Wales, Australia. Kollikodon lived in the Late Cretaceous period, during the Cenomanian age. Several other monotremes are known from the Griman Creek Formation, including Dharragarra, Opalios, Parvopalus, Steropodon, and Stirtodon.

<i>Steropodon</i> Extinct genus of monotremes

Steropodon is a genus of prehistoric platypus-like monotreme, or egg-laying mammal. It contains a single species, Steropodon galmani, that lived about 100.2–96.6 million years ago during the Cretaceous period, from early to middle Cenomanian. It is one of the oldest monotremes discovered, and is one of the oldest Australian mammal discoveries. Several other monotremes are known from the Griman Creek Formation, including Dharragarra, Kollikodon, Opalios, Parvopalus, and Stirtodon.

<i>Neoceratodus</i> Genus of lungfish

Neoceratodus is a genus of lungfish in the family Neoceratodontidae. The extant Australian lungfish is the only surviving member of this genus, but it was formerly much more widespread, being distributed throughout Africa, Australia, and South America. Species were also much more diverse in body plan; for example, the Cretaceous species Neoceratodus africanus was a gigantic species that coexisted with Spinosaurus in what is now the Kem Kem Formation of Morocco. The earliest fossils from this genus are of Neoceratodus potkooroki from the mid Cretaceous (Albian-Cenomanian) Griman Creek Formation of Australia; remains from the Late Jurassic of Uruguay assigned to this genus probably do not belong to the genus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tribosphenida</span> Infralegion of mammals

Tribosphenida is a group (infralegion) of mammals that includes the ancestor of Hypomylos, Aegialodontia and Theria. It belongs to the group Zatheria. The current definition of Tribosphenida is more or less synonymous with Boreosphenida.

<i>Koolasuchus</i> Extinct genus of amphibians

Koolasuchus is an extinct genus of brachyopoid temnospondyl in the family Chigutisauridae. Fossils have been found from Victoria, Australia and date back 125-120 million years ago to Barremian-Aptian stages of the Early Cretaceous. Koolasuchus is the youngest known temnospondyl. It is known from several fragments of the skull and other bones such as vertebrae, ribs, and pectoral elements. The type species Koolasuchus cleelandi was named in 1997. K. cleelandi was adopted as the fossil emblem for the state of Victoria, Australia on 13 January 2022.

<i>Rapator</i> Extinct genus of dinosaurs

Rapator is a genus of theropod dinosaur from the Griman Creek Formation of New South Wales, Australia, dating to the Cenomanian age of the Cretaceous period. It contains only the type species, Rapator ornitholestoides, which was originally named by Friedrich von Huene in 1932.

<i>Notoceratops</i> Extinct genus of dinosaurs

Notoceratops is a dubious genus of extinct ornithischian dinosaur based on an incomplete, toothless left dentary from the Late Cretaceous of Patagonia, probably dating to the Campanian or Maastrichtian. It was most likely a ceratopsian and it was found in the Lago Colhué Huapi Formation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Australosphenida</span> Subclass of mammals

The Australosphenida are a clade of mammals, containing mammals with tribosphenic molars, known from the Jurassic to Mid-Cretaceous of Gondwana. Although they have often been suggested to have acquired tribosphenic molars independently from those of Tribosphenida, this has been disputed. Fossils of australosphenidans have been found from the Jurassic of Madagascar and Argentina, and Cretaceous of Australia and Argentina. Monotremes have also been considered a part of this group in its original definition and in many subsequent studies, but its relationship with the relationship with other members has been disputed by some scholars.

<i>Cooyoo</i> Extinct species of fish

Cooyoo is an extinct genus of ichthyodectid fish known from the Lower Cretaceous. It contains a single species, C. australis, known from the Albian-aged Toolebuc and Allaru Formations of Queensland, Australia. C. australis was originally named by Arthur Smith Woodward as a species of Portheus in 1894, which was later amended to Xiphactinus.

The Toolebuc Formation is a geological formation that extends from Queensland across South Australia and the Northern Territory in Australia, whose strata date back to the Albian stage of the Early Cretaceous. Dinosaurs, pterosaurs, plesiosaurs, ichthyosaurs, protostegid turtles, sharks, chimaeroids and bony fish remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wonthaggi Formation</span>

The Wonthaggi Formation is an informal geological formation in Victoria, Australia whose strata date back to the Early Cretaceous. It is part of the Strzelecki Group within the Gippsland Basin. Dinosaur remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation. It is partially equivalent to the Eumeralla Formation.

<i>Bulgosuchus</i> Extinct genus of amphibians

Bulgosuchus is an extinct genus of prehistoric amphibians, known from an incomplete mandible and a femur recovered from the Bulgo Sandstone at Long Reef in Sydney, Australia. The type species is Bulgosuchus gargantua, which was named in 1999.

Chrotichthys is an extinct genus of prehistoric freshwater ray-finned fish that lived in the Anisian stage of the Middle Triassic epoch. It contains a single species, C. gregarius, known from the Terrigal Formation of New South Wales, Australia.

<i>Cavenderichthys</i> Extinct genus of fishes

Cavenderichthys is an extinct genus of prehistoric freshwater ray-finned fish from the Late Jurassic. It contains a single species, C. talbragarensis from the Talbragar Fish beds of New South Wales, Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Talbragar fossil site</span> Protected area in New South Wales, Australia

The Talbragar fossil site is a paleontological site of Late Jurassic (Tithonian) age in the central west of New South Wales, Australia. It lies about 30 kilometres (19 mi) north-east of the town of Gulgong, and 300 kilometres (190 mi) north-west of Sydney. The site has been known for over a century during which it has been extensively excavated to the point of near exhaustion. It is now registered as a Crown Land Reserve for the preservation of fossils; access is by permit, and the collection of rocks and fossil specimens is prohibited. The 4-hectare (9.9-acre) reserve is listed on the Register of the National Estate.

Cyclodendron was a genus of lycophytes dating from the Permian. Plants were vascularized with reproduction by spores.

<i>Umkomasia</i> Extinct genus of seed ferns

Umkomasia is a genus of seed bearing organs produced by corystosperm seed ferns, first based on fossils collected by Hamshaw Thomas from the Burnera Waterfall locality near the Umkomaas River of South Africa. He recognized on the basis of cuticular similarities that the same plant produced pollen organs Pteruchus and the leaves Dicroidium. Various other corystosperm seed bearing organs from the Jurassic and Cretaceous have been assigned to this genus, but recently have been given distinct genera, with Umkomasia being restricted to the Triassic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tupuangi Formation</span> Geological formation in New Zealand

The Tupuangi Formation is a geological formation in New Zealand, only exposed on Pitt Island in the Chatham Islands. It is the oldest exposed sedimentary unit within the archipelago. It was deposited in terrestrial deltaic to paralic conditions during the Cenomanian to Turonian ages of the Late Cretaceous. During this time period the Chatham Islands were attached to Antarctica within the Antarctic Circle, at approximately 70° to 80° south.

<i>Kudnu</i> Extinct genus of reptiles

Kudnu is an extinct genus of neodiapsid reptile from the Early Triassic Arcadia Formation of Australia. The type species is K. mackinlayi.

References

  1. Poropat, Stephen F.; Martin, Sarah K.; Tosolini, Anne-Marie P.; Wagstaff, Barbara E.; Bean, Lynne B.; Kear, Benjamin P.; Vickers-Rich, Patricia; Rich, Thomas H. (2018-04-03). "Early Cretaceous polar biotas of Victoria, southeastern Australia—an overview of research to date". Alcheringa: An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology. 42 (2): 157–229. Bibcode:2018Alch...42..157P. doi:10.1080/03115518.2018.1453085. ISSN   0311-5518. S2CID   133845914.
  2. Hall, T. S. (1899). "A new genus and new species of fish from the Mesozoic rocks of Victoria". Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria. 12 (2): 147–151.
  3. 1 2 Waldman, M., 1971, A re-examination of Psilichthys selwyni Hall, from the Lower Cretaceous of Victoria: Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria 84:263–265
  4. Romano, C. & Brinkmann, W. (2009). "Reappraisal of the lower actinopterygian Birgeria stensioei ALDINGER, 1931 (Osteichthyes; Birgeriidae) from the Middle Triassic of Monte San Giorgio (Switzerland) and Besano (Italy)". Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie - Abhandlungen. 252: 17–31. doi:10.1127/0077-7749/2009/0252-0017.
  5. Hilton, Eric J.; Forey, Peter L. (2009). "Redescription of †Chondrosteus acipenseroidesEgerton, 1858 (Acipenseriformes, †Chondrosteidae) from the lower Lias of Lyme Regis (Dorset, England), with comments on the early evolution of sturgeons and paddlefishes". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 7 (4): 427–453. Bibcode:2009JSPal...7..427H. doi:10.1017/s1477201909002740. ISSN   1477-2019. S2CID   86821521.
  6. Berrell, Rodney W.; Boisvert, Catherine; Trinajstic, Kate; Siversson, Mikael; Alvarado-Ortega, Jesús; Cavin, Lionel; Salisbury, Steven W.; Kemp, Anne (2020-03-03). "A review of Australia's Mesozoic fishes". Alcheringa: An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology. 44 (2): 286–311. Bibcode:2020Alch...44..286B. doi:10.1080/03115518.2019.1701078. ISSN   0311-5518. S2CID   216172108.