Pachycormidae
Encyclopedia
Pachycormidae is an extinct family of ray-finned fish
known from Mesozoic
deposits from Eurasia
and the Americas
. They were characterized by having serrated pectoral fins, reduced pelvic fins and a bony rostrum
. Certain members of the group were large filter-feeding planktivores. Their relations with other fish are unclear.
after Friedman et al. (2010).
Actinopterygii
The Actinopterygii or ray-finned fishes constitute a class or sub-class of the bony fishes.The ray-finned fishes are so called because they possess lepidotrichia or "fin rays", their fins being webs of skin supported by bony or horny spines , as opposed to the fleshy, lobed fins that characterize...
known from Mesozoic
Mesozoic
The Mesozoic era is an interval of geological time from about 250 million years ago to about 65 million years ago. It is often referred to as the age of reptiles because reptiles, namely dinosaurs, were the dominant terrestrial and marine vertebrates of the time...
deposits from Eurasia
Eurasia
Eurasia is a continent or supercontinent comprising the traditional continents of Europe and Asia ; covering about 52,990,000 km2 or about 10.6% of the Earth's surface located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres...
and the Americas
Americas
The Americas, or America , are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World. In English, the plural form the Americas is often used to refer to the landmasses of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions, while the singular form America is primarily...
. They were characterized by having serrated pectoral fins, reduced pelvic fins and a bony rostrum
Snout
The snout, or muzzle, is the protruding portion of an animal's face, consisting of its nose, mouth, and jaw.-Terminology:The term "muzzle", used as a noun, can be ambiguous...
. Certain members of the group were large filter-feeding planktivores. Their relations with other fish are unclear.
Phylogeny
CladogramCladogram
A cladogram is a diagram used in cladistics which shows ancestral relations between organisms, to represent the evolutionary tree of life. Although traditionally such cladograms were generated largely on the basis of morphological characters, DNA and RNA sequencing data and computational...
after Friedman et al. (2010).
Sources/external links
- http://www.courtenaymuseum.ca/paleo/paleo/pachycor.html
- http://www.palaeos.com/Vertebrates/Units/100Neopterygii/100.600.html
- http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/data/327/5968/990/DC1/1