Prehistoric fish are various groups of
fishA fish is any aquatic vertebrate animal that is typically ectothermic , covered with scales, and equipped with two sets of paired fins and several unpaired fins...
es that lived before recorded
historyHistory is the study of the human past, with special attention to the written record. Scholars who write about history are called historians. It is a field of research which uses a narrative to examine and analyse the sequence of events, and it often attempts to investigate objectively the patterns...
; a few, such as the
coelacanthCoelacanth is the common name for an order of fish that includes the oldest living lineage of gnathostomata known to date...
still exist today and are considered
living fossilLiving fossil is an informal term for any living species of organism which appears to be the same as a species otherwise only known from fossils and which has no close living relatives. These species have all survived major extinction events, and generally retain low taxonomic diversities...
s. Their study is
paleoichthyology.
Overview
The first fish and the first
vertebrateVertebrates are members of the subphylum Vertebrata, chordates with backbones or spinal columns. About 58,000 species of vertebrates have been described. Vertebrata is the largest subphylum of chordates, and contains many familiar groups of large land animals. Vertebrates comprise cyclostomes, bony...
s, were the ostracoderms, which appeared in the
CambrianThe Cambrian is the first geological period of the Paleozoic era, lasting from ; it is succeeded by the Ordovician. Its subdivisions, and indeed its base, are somewhat in flux...
Period, about 510 million years ago, and became extinct at the end of the
DevonianThe Devonian is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic era spanning from . It is named after Devon, England, where rocks from this period were first studied....
, about 350 million years ago. Ostracoderms were jawless fishes found mainly in fresh water. They were covered with a bony armor or scales and were often less than 30 cm (1 ft) long. The ostracoderms are placed in the class
AgnathaAgnatha is a superclass of jawless fish in the phylum Chordata, subphylum Vertebrata. The group excludes all vertebrates with jaws, known as gnathostomes....
along with the living jawless fishes, the
lampreyA lamprey is a parasitic marine animal with a toothed, funnel-like sucking mouth. Translated directly, their name means stone lickers . While lampreys are well known for those species which bore into the flesh of other fish to suck their blood, these species make up the minority...
s and
hagfishHagfish are marine craniates of the class Myxini, also known as Hyperotreti. Myxini is the only class in the clade Craniata that does not also belong to the subphylum Vertebrata...
es, which are believed to be descended from the ostracoderms.
The first fish with jaws, the acanthodians, or spiny
sharkSharks are a type of fish with a full cartilaginous skeleton and a highly streamlined body. The earliest known sharks date from more than 420 million years ago, before the time of the dinosaurs....
s, appeared in the late
SilurianThe Silurian is a geologic period and system that extends from the end of the Ordovician period, about 443.7 ± 1.5 Ma , to the beginning of the Devonian period, about 416.0 ± 2.8 Ma . As with other geologic periods, the rock beds that define the period's start and end are well identified, but the...
, about 410 million years ago, and became extinct before the end of the
PermianThe Permian
[The term "Permian" was introduced into geology in 1841 by Sir Sir R. I. Murchison, president of the Geological Society of London, who identified typical strata in extensive Russian explorations undertaken with Edouard de Verneuil; Murchison asserted in 1841 that he named...]
, about 250 million years ago. Acanthodians were generally small sharklike fishes varying from toothless filter-feeders to toothed predators. They were once often classified as an order of the class
PlacodermiThe Placodermi were a class of armoured prehistoric fish, known from fossils, which lived from the late Silurian to the end of the Devonian Period. Their head and thorax were covered by articulated armoured plates and the rest of the body was scaled or naked, depending on the species...
, another group of primitive fishes, but recent authorities tend to place the acanthodiaes or that both groups share a common
ancestorAn ancestor is a parent or the parent of an ancestor ....
.
The placoderms, another group of jawed fishes, appeared at the beginning of the
DevonianThe Devonian is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic era spanning from . It is named after Devon, England, where rocks from this period were first studied....
, about 395 million years ago, and became extinct at the end of the
DevonianThe Devonian is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic era spanning from . It is named after Devon, England, where rocks from this period were first studied....
or the beginning of the Mississippian (
CarboniferousThe Carboniferous is a geologic period and system that extends from the end of the Devonian period, about 359.2 ± 2.5 Ma , to the beginning of the Permian period, about 299.0 ± 0.8 Ma ....
), about 345 million years ago. Detailed anatomical studies of fossil remains by the Swedish scientist
Erik StensiöErik Helge Osvald Stensiö was a Swedish paleozoologist.Erik Andersson, as his original name was, was born in the village of Stensjö in Döderhult parish in Kalmar County; he later took his new surname from his place of origin and is occasionally referred to with both names...
strongly suggest that the placoderms were closely related to sharks. Placoderms were typically small, flattened bottom-dwellers, however, many, particularly the arthrodires, were active midwater predators.
DunkleosteusDunkleosteus is a prehistoric fish, one of the largest arthrodire placoderms ever to have lived, existing during the Late Devonian period, about 380-360 million years ago....
was the largest and most famous of these. The upper jaw was firmly fused to the skull, but there was a hinge joint between the skull and the bony plating of the trunk region. This allowed the upper part of the head to be thrown back, and in arthrodires, this allowed them to take larger bites.
The cartilaginous-skeleton
sharkSharks are a type of fish with a full cartilaginous skeleton and a highly streamlined body. The earliest known sharks date from more than 420 million years ago, before the time of the dinosaurs....
s and
raysBatoidea is a superorder of cartilaginous fish containing more than 500 described species in thirteen families. They are commonly known as rays, but that term is also used specifically for batoids in the order Rajiformes, the "true rays"...
, class
ChondrichthyesChondrichthyes or cartilaginous fishes are jawed fish with paired fins, paired nares, scales, two-chambered hearts, and skeletons made of cartilage rather than bone...
, which appeared about 370 million years ago in the middle
DevonianThe Devonian is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic era spanning from . It is named after Devon, England, where rocks from this period were first studied....
, are generally believed to be descended from the bony-skeleton placoderms. The cartilaginous skeletons are considered to be a later development.
The modern bony fishes, class
OsteichthyesOsteichthyes , also called bony fish, are a taxonomic group of fish that includes the ray-finned fish and lobe-finned fish . The split between these two classes occurred about 450 million years ago....
, appeared in the late
SilurianThe Silurian is a geologic period and system that extends from the end of the Ordovician period, about 443.7 ± 1.5 Ma , to the beginning of the Devonian period, about 416.0 ± 2.8 Ma . As with other geologic periods, the rock beds that define the period's start and end are well identified, but the...
or early
DevonianThe Devonian is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic era spanning from . It is named after Devon, England, where rocks from this period were first studied....
, about 395 million years ago. The early forms were freshwater fishes, for no fossil remains of modern bony fishes have been found in marine deposits older than
TriassicThe Triassic is a geologic period and system that extends from about 251 to 199 Ma . As the first period of the Mesozoic Era, the Triassic follows the Permian and is followed by the Jurassic. Both the start and end of the Triassic are marked by major extinction events...
time, about 230 million years ago. The Osteichthyes may have arisen from the acanthodians. A subclass of the Osteichthyes, the ray-finned fishes (subclass
ActinopterygiiThe Actinopterygii constitute the class of the ray-finned 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 the class Sarcopterygii...
), became and have remained the dominant group of fishes throughout the world. It was not the ray-finned fishes, however, that led to the evolution of the land vertebrates.
The ancestors of the land vertebrates are found among another group of bony fishes called the Choanichthyes or
SarcopterygiiSarcopterygii - Crossopterygii is traditionally the class of fleshy-finned, lobe-finned fishes, consisting of lungfish, coelacanths and all tetrapods.-Characteristics:Sarcopterygians - crossopterygians are bony fish with fleshy,...
. Choanate fishes are characterized by internal nostrils, fleshy fins called lobe fins, and cosmoid scales. The choanate fishes appeared in the late
SilurianThe Silurian is a geologic period and system that extends from the end of the Ordovician period, about 443.7 ± 1.5 Ma , to the beginning of the Devonian period, about 416.0 ± 2.8 Ma . As with other geologic periods, the rock beds that define the period's start and end are well identified, but the...
or early
DevonianThe Devonian is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic era spanning from . It is named after Devon, England, where rocks from this period were first studied....
, more than 390 million years ago, and possibly arose from the acanthodians. The choanate fishes include a group known as the Crossopterygii, which has one living representative, the
coelacanthCoelacanth is the common name for an order of fish that includes the oldest living lineage of gnathostomata known to date...
(
LatimeriaLatimeria is a genus comprising the only known living species of coelacanth.-Biological characteristics:Based on growth rings in their ear bones , scientists infer that individual coelacanths may live as long as 80 to 100 years. Coelacanths live as deep as 700 m below sea level, but are more...
). During the
DevonianThe Devonian is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic era spanning from . It is named after Devon, England, where rocks from this period were first studied....
Period some crossopterygian fishes of the order (or suborder)
RhipidistiaThe Rhipidistia were lobe-finned fishes that are the ancestors of the tetrapods. Taxonmists traditionally considered the Rhipidistia a subgroup of Crossopterygii that described a group of fish that lived during the Devonian consisting of the Porolepiformes and Osteolepiformes...
crawled out of the water to become the first tetrapods.
The story of vertebrate evolution started in the seas of the
CambrianThe Cambrian is the first geological period of the Paleozoic era, lasting from ; it is succeeded by the Ordovician. Its subdivisions, and indeed its base, are somewhat in flux...
period, when jawless, toothless, soft-bodied fishlike creatures wriggled through the water, sucking up microscopic food particles. Only after tough, non-decaying bone was developed (initially as a scaly outer covering and later within the body) did
fossilFossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals, plants, and other organisms from the remote past. The totality of fossils, both discovered and undiscovered, and their placement in fossiliferous rock formations and sedimentary layers is known as the fossil record...
s form and become preserved in the rocks. And only then could paleontologists take up the story with any certainty.
The earliest traces of bony scales are found in rocks of the Late
CambrianThe Cambrian is the first geological period of the Paleozoic era, lasting from ; it is succeeded by the Ordovician. Its subdivisions, and indeed its base, are somewhat in flux...
period, and the first recognizable vertebrate fish has been found in
AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the continental mainland , the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans...
n rocks of Early
OrdovicianThe Ordovician is a geologic period and system, the second of six of the Paleozoic era, and covers the time between 488.3±1.7 to 443.7±1.5 million years ago . It follows the Cambrian period and is followed by the Silurian period...
age. So, the first chapter in the vertebrate evolution starts with the ancient
ArandaspisArandaspis prionotolepis is an extinct species of jawless fish that lived in the Ordovician period, about 480 to 470 million years ago. It is the oldest known vertebrate....
, a fish about 6in/15 cm long with no jaws, no teeth and no fins other than a tail. It did, however, have gills and a stiffening rod of cartilaginous material (the
notochordThe notochord is a flexible, rod-shaped body found in embryos of all chordates. It is composed of cells derived from the mesoderm and defines the primitive axis of the embryo. In some chordates, it persists throughout life as the main axial support of the body, while in most vertebrates it is...
) that served as a backbone.
Groups of various prehistoric fishes include:
Jawless fish
- Arandaspis
Arandaspis prionotolepis is an extinct species of jawless fish that lived in the Ordovician period, about 480 to 470 million years ago. It is the oldest known vertebrate....
- Astraspis
Astraspis is an extinct genus of primitive jawless fish from the Ordovician of Central North America. It is related to other Ordovician fishes, such as the South American Sacabambaspis, and the Australian Arandaspis....
- Boreaspis
Boreaspis is an extinct genus of primitive jawless fish that lived in the Devonian period.Fourteen different species of Boreaspis have been found in sandstone of the lagoons and estuaries of Devonian Spitsbergen....
- Dartmuthia
Dartmuthia is an extinct genus of primitive jawless fish that lived in the Silurian period in what is now Estonia.To date only the creature's armored head shield has been found. Since the mouth is positioned on the underside of the head Dartmuthia is presumed to have dwelled on the ocean floor,...
- Doryaspis
Doryaspis is an extinct genus of primitive jawless fish that lived in the Devonian period. Fossils have been discovered in Spitsbergen....
- Drepanaspis
- Errivaspis
Errivaspis is an extinct genus of pteraspid heterostracan that lived in the Early Devonian period.-Description:Errivaspis had large dorsal plates and ventral plates, the linking branchial plate, as well as a cornual plate at the side, an orbital plate around the eye...
- Haikouichthys
Haikouichthys is an extinct genus of craniate believed to have lived c. 530 million years ago, during the Cambrian explosion...
- Hemicyclaspis
Hemicyclaspis is an extinct genus of primitive jawless fish, closely related to Cephalaspis, that lived in the Devonian period in what is now Europe and North America....
- Jamoytius
Jamoytius kerwoodi was a species of primitive, eel-like jawless fish that lived in the Silurian period.J. kerwoodi is the earliest known anaspid.. It had long, paired fins running along its body - making it a good swimmer. J. kerwoodi resembled a lamprey, especially with its rounded mouth and...
- Myllokunmingia
Myllokunmingia is a chordate from the Lower Cambrian Maotianshan shales of China, thought to be a vertebrate, although this is not conclusively proven. It is 28 mm long and 6 mm high....
- Pikaia
Pikaia gracilens is an extinct animal known from the Middle Cambrian fossil found near Mount Pika in the Burgess Shale of British Columbia.-Discovery:...
- Pharyngolepis
Pharyngolepis is an extinct genus of primitive jawless fish that lived in the Silurian period of what is now Norway.Pharyngolepis had well-developed anal an caudal fins, but no paired or dorsal fins that would have helped stabilise it in the water, and so was probably a poor swimmer, remaining...
- Promissum
Promissum is an extinct genus of primitive chordate that lived in the Ordovician period, about 500 million years ago.A conodont, Promissum had a primitive mouth under its eyes with mineralized teeth, which are both typical for conodonts, and also a primitive backbone...
- Pteraspis
Pteraspis is an extinct genus of primitive jawless fish that lived in the Devonian period of what is now Britain and Belgium.Like other heterostracan fishes, Pteraspis had a protective armored plating covering the front of its body...
- Thelodus
Thelodus is an extinct genus of primitive jawless fish that lived in the Silurian period. Fossils have been found worldwide.Thelodus belonged to the Thelodonti, a group of jawless fish lacking the armored plating characteristic of the related Heterostraci. The position of Thelodus`s mouth suggests...
- Tremataspis
Tremataspis is an extinct genus of primitive jawless fish from the Silurian period of what is now Estonia.An osteostracid, Tremataspis was about in length, and had an armored shield covering its head. Compared with its relatives, the shield was unusually elongated, covering the whole front of the...
Cartilaginous fish
- Cladoselache
Cladoselache is a genus of extinct shark. It appeared in the Devonian period.This primitive shark grew to be up to long and roamed the oceans of North America. It is known to be a fast moving and fairly agile predator due to its streamline body and deep forked tail...
- Cobelodus
Cobelodus is an extinct genus of shark that lived in the Middle to Late Carboniferous period in what is today Illinois and Iowa.Cobelodus was a long predator. Although it was a shark, Cobelodus had a number of differences from modern forms. It had a bulbous head, large eyes, a high-arched back,...
- Deltoptychius
Deltoptychius is an extinct species of cartaliginous fish related to the modern chimaeras. It lived in the Carboniferous period of present-day Europe....
- Heliobatis
Heliobatis is an extinct genus of ray. Like modern stingrays, it had spikes on its tail....
- Hybodus
Hybodus is an extinct genus of once-common, widespread and long lived sharks, first appearing towards the end of the Permian period, and disappearing at the beginning of the Cretaceous. During the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous periods the hybodonts were especially successful and could be...
- Ischyodus
Ischyodus is an extinct genus of cartilaginous fish belonging to the subclass Holocephali, which includes the modern-day chimaeras. Fossils are known from Europe and New Zealand....
- Scapanorhynchus
Scapanorhynchus is an extinct genus of shark from the Cretaceous era. Their extreme similarities to the living goblin shark, Mitsukurina owstoni, lead some experts to consider reclassifying it as Scapanorhynchus owstoni...
- Sclerorhynchus
Sclerorhynchus is an extinct genus of primitive batoidean that lived in the Cretaceous. The namesake of the Mesozoic suborder Sclerorhynchoidea, it is not quite clear whether they were closer to the Rajiformes or to the Pristiformes . Its fossils have been found mainly around the Mediterranean...
- Spathobathis
Spathobathis is an extinct genus of ray from the Jurassic period of Europe.Spathobathis had a body similar to that of a modern guitarfish, being highly flattened and widened, specializing the creature for a life on the ocean floor. Although it is one of the earliest known fossil rays, it already...
- Stethacanthus
Stethacanthus is an extinct genus of shark which lived in the Late Devonian and Early Carboniferous epochs, around 360 million years ago. Fossils have been found in Europe and North America....
- Tristychius
Tristychius is an extinct genus of shark from the Carboniferous era. Fossils have been found in Scotland.Tristychius was a small shark, about long. It had a well-developed upturned caudal fin, similar to that of many modern sharks. Physically it may have resembled a modern dogfish...
- Xenacanthus
Xenacanthus is a genus of prehistoric sharks. The first species of the genus lived in the later Devonian period, and they survived until the end of the Triassic, 202 million years ago. Fossils of various species have been found worldwide....
Sharks and placoderms
- Bothriolepis
Bothriolepis was the most successful genus of antiarch placoderms, if not the most successful genus of any placoderm, with over 100 species found on every continent.-Description and palaeobiology:...
- Carcharocles megalodon
The megalodon , Carcharodon megalodon or Carcharocles megalodon , was a giant shark that lived in prehistoric times during the Neogene period, and was a super-predator....
- Cladoselache
Cladoselache is a genus of extinct shark. It appeared in the Devonian period.This primitive shark grew to be up to long and roamed the oceans of North America. It is known to be a fast moving and fairly agile predator due to its streamline body and deep forked tail...
- Coccosteus
Coccosteus is an extinct genus of arthrodire placoderm. Its fossils have been found throughout Europe and North America. The majority of these have been found in freshwater sediments, though, such a large range suggests that they may have been able to enter saltwater...
- Cretoxyrhina
- Ctenurella
Ctenurella is an extinct genus of ptyctodont placoderm from the Late Devonian of Australia.As with other ptyctodonts, the armor of Ctenurella was reduced to a few thin plates on the head and shoulder region. It was also relatively small for placoderm, at just in length...
- Dunkleosteus
Dunkleosteus is a prehistoric fish, one of the largest arthrodire placoderms ever to have lived, existing during the Late Devonian period, about 380-360 million years ago....
- Gemuendina
- Groenlandaspis
Groenlandaspis is an extinct genus of armored placoderm.Groenlandaspis was a member of the Order Arthrodira, the most successful group of placoderms which also included the superpredator Dunkleosteus...
- Materpiscis
Materpiscis is a genus of ptyctodontid placoderm from the Late Devonian located at the Gogo Formation of Western Australia...
- Ostracoderm
Ostracoderms are any of several groups of extinct, primitive, jawless fishes that were covered in an armor of bony plates. They belong to the taxon Ostracodermi, and their fossils are found in the Ordovician and Devonian Period strata of North America and Europe...
- Palaeospondylus
Palaeospondylus gunni is a mysterious, fish-like fossil vertebrate. Its fossils are described from Achannaras slate quarry in Caithness, Scotland....
- Pterichthyodes
Pterichthyodes is a genus of placoderm fishes from the Devonian period, now all extinct. They were one of the first species recognized for what they were, as their fossils are common in the Old Red Sandstone formation studied by geologists in the early 1800s...
- Squalicorax
Squalicorax is a genus of extinct lamniform shark known to have lived during the Cretaceous period. A fully articulated 1.9 m long fossil skeleton of Squalicorax has been found in Kansas, evidence of its presence in the Western Interior Seaway...
- Otodus obliquus
Otodus obliquus was a prehistoric mackerel shark which lived during the Paleocene and Eocene epochs, approximately about 60 to 45 million years ago.-Known physiology:This shark is known from the fossil teeth and a few fossilized vertebral centra...
- Carcharocles angustidens
Primitive ray-finned fish
- Aspidorhynchus
Aspidorhynchus is an extinct genus of ray-finned fish from the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. Fossils have been found in Europe and Antarctica....
- Canobius
Canobius is an extinct genus of early ray-finned fish that lived in the Carboniferous period of Europe.Canobius was a small fish, in length. Compared with its earlier relatives, it had specialized jaw bones and hyomandibulars which attached the upper jaw to the brain case, meaning that the jaws...
- Cheirolepis
Cheirolepis is an extinct genus of ray-finned fish that lived in the Devonian period of Europe and North America. It is the only genus yet known within the family Cheirolepidae and the order Cheirolepiformes...
- Dapedium
Dapedium is an extinct species of primitive neopterygian ray-finned fish. The first-described finding was an example of D. politum, found in the Lower Lias of Lyme Regis, on the Jurassic Coast of England...
- Lepidotes
Lepidotes is an extinct genus of neopterygian ray-finned fish from the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. Fossils have been found worldwide....
- Moythomasia
Moythomasia is an extinct genus of early ray-finned fish from the Devonian era of Europe and Australia.Moythomasia was a small freshwater fish, long. It had relatively large eyes, presumably to find prey in murky water...
- Palaeoniscum
Palaeoniscum is an extinct genus of ray-finned fish from the Permian period of Europe and North America.Palaeoniscum had a torpedo-shaped body in length, with a deeply forked caudal fin and tall dorsal fin, indicating that it was a fast swimmer. It was probably an active predator, feeding on other...
- Perleidus
Perleidus is an extinct genus of ray-finned fish from the Triassic period. Fossils have been found worldwide.Perleidus was a freshwater predatory fish, about in length. Its jaws hung vertically under the braincase, allowing them to open wide, a feature it shared with the earlier palaeonisciform...
- Platysomus
Platysomus is an extinct genus of ray-finned fish that lived in the Carboniferous and Permian periods. Fossils have been found worldwide....
- Pycnodus
Pycnodus is an extinct genus of ray-finned fish from the Cretaceous and Tertiary periods.Pycnodus was only about long, but looked very similar to the larger Dapedium, having the same grinding teeth and bulky shape...
- Saurichthys
Saurichthys is an extinct genus of ray-finned fish from the Triassic period. Fossils have been found worldwide.Saurichthys was an elongated, streamlined, fish about long, and looked similar to the modern pike. Its dorsal and anal fins were placed opposite each other wll back on the body, and the...
- Semionotus
Semionotus is an extinct genus of ray-finned fish found throughout Northern Pangaea during the late Triassic, becoming extinct at the start of the Jurassic.-External links:...
Modern ray-finned fish
- Berycopsis
Berycopsis is an extinct genus of beardfish from the Cretaceous period.It was about long and one of the first members of the Acanthopterygii, the group that includes the present day barracuda, swordfish, seahorses, and flatfish...
- Enchodus
Enchodus is an extinct genus of bony fish. It flourished during the Upper Cretaceous and was small to medium in size. One of the genus' most notable attributes are the large "fangs" at the front of the upper and lower jaws and on the palatine bones, leading to its misleading nickname among fossil...
- Eobothus
Eobothus is an extinct genus of flatfish from the Eocene period of China, India and Europe.Eobothus is significant as one of the earliest genera of flatfish, one of the last major fish groups to evolve. It closely resembled modern flatfish, with an oval-shaped body about long, surrounded by...
- Gryouchus
Gryouchus is an extinct genus of ray-finned fish....
- Gyrosteus
Gyrosteus mirabilis is an extinct ray-finned fish. It was found near Whitby and was about 5 m long....
- Hypsidoris
Hypsidoris is an extinct genus of catfish, classified within its own family Hypsidoridae, from the Eocene epoch of North America.Hypsidoris was about long, and looked similar to the modern catfish, also possessing sensitive barbels used to detect prey in murky waters...
- Hypsocormus
Hypsocormus is an extinct genus of teleost fish from the Jurassic era of Europe.Hypsocormus was a fast-swimming predatory fish about long, with a half moon-shaped caudal fin similar to that of a modern mackerel. It had a single dorsal fin, elongated pectoral fins and tiny pelvic fins about half...
- Knightia
Knightia is an extinct genus of fish well-known from abundant fossils found in the Green River Formation of Wyoming, United States. They rarely exceeded 25 cm in length and are found throughout the formation....
- Leptolepis
Leptolepis is an extinct genus of teleost fish that lived in the Mesozoic era. It was one of the first teleosts.- Appearance :...
- Pholidophorus
Pholidophorus is an extinct genus of teleost fish from the Triassic and Jurassic periods of Africa, Europe, and South America.Pholidophorus was a herring-like fish about long, although it was not closely related to modern herring. Like them, however, it had a single dorsal fin, a symmetrical tail,...
- Protobrama
Protobrama is an extinct genus of teleost fish from the Cretaceous period of Lebanon.Protobrama was a small fish, only long, and is thought to have hunted around coral reefs. It had a deep body, with long dorsal and anal fins, but had no pelvic fins. The position of the pectoral fins high on the...
- Sphenocephalus
Sphenocephalus is an extinct genus of ray-finned fish that lived during the Cretaceous period. Fossils have been found in England and Italy....
- Thrissops
Thrissops is an extinct genus of teleost fish from the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods.Thrissops was a fast predatory fish about long, that fed on other bony fish. It had a streamlined body with a deeply cleft tail and only very small pelvic fins...
Fleshy-lobed fish
- Chinlia
Chinlea is an extinct genus of Triassic lobe-finned fish found in the Southwestern United States states of Arizona and New Mexico....
- Dipnorhynchus
Dipnorhynchus is an extinct genus of lungfish from the middle Devonian period of Australia and Europe.Dipnorhynchus was a primitive lungfish, but still it had features that set it apart from other sarcopterygians. Its skull lacked the joint that divided the skull in two in rhipidists and...
- Dipterus
Dipterus is an extinct genus of lungfish from the late Devonian period of Australia and Europe.In most respects, Dipterus, which was about long, closely resembled modern lungfish. Like its ancestor Dipnorhynchus, it had tooth-like plates on its palate instead of real teeth...
- Eusthenopteron
Eusthenopteron is a genus of prehistoric lobe-finned fish which has attained an iconic status from its close relationships to tetrapods. Early depictions of this animal show it emerging onto land, however paleontologists now widely agree that it was a pelagic animal...
- Gogonasus
Gogonasus was a lobe-finned fish known from 3-dimensionally preserved 380 million-year-old fossils found from the Gogo Formation in Western Australia. It lived in the late Devonian period, on what was once a 1400 kilometre coral reef off the Kimberley coast surrounding the north-west of Australia...
- Griphognathus
Griphognathus is an extinct genus of lungfish from the late Devonian period of Europe and Australia.Griphognathus was a specialized lungfish, about long, with an elongated snout. The lower jaw and palate were lined with tooth-like denticles. Like all other lungfish, its skin was covered by...
- Gyroptychius
Gyroptychius is an extinct genus of coelacanthiform lobe-finned fish from the Devonian period.Gyroptychius was a fast riverine predator with an elongated body about long. As its eyes were relatively small, it is presumed to have hunted by smell rather than sight. Gyroptychius had short jaws which...
- Holoptychius
Holoptychius is an extinct genus of porolepiform lobe-finned fish from the Devonian period. It is known from fossils worldwide.Holoptychius was streamlined predator about long, which fed on other bony fish. Its rounded scales and body form indicate that it could have swum quickly through the water...
- Macropoma
Macropoma is an extinct genus of coelacanth in the class Sarcopterygii. These fishes have apparently been extinct for over 70 million years and are most closely related to the modern coelacanth Latimeria....
- Osteolepsis
- Strunius
Strunius is an extinct genus of lobe-finned fish from the Devonian period of Germany.Although it was a lobe-finned fish Struniuss fins were supported by fin rays, which are more associated with ray-finned fish. However, its skull was composed of two articulating halves, a feature characteristic of...