''Avitoluvarus'' ("Ancient Louvar") is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

of extinct

louvar The louvar or luvar (''Luvarus imperialis'') is a species of perciform fish, the only extant species in the genus ''Luvarus'' and family Luvaridae. It is closely related to the surgeonfish. The juvenile form has a pair of spines near the base of ...

that lived in the

Tethys Ocean The Tethys Ocean ( el, Τηθύς ''Tēthús''), also called the Tethys Sea or the Neo-Tethys, was a prehistoric ocean that covered most of the Earth during much of the Mesozoic Era and early Cenozoic Era, located between the ancient continents ...

during the early

Paleogene The Paleogene ( ; British English, also spelled Palaeogene or Palæogene; informally Lower Tertiary or Early Tertiary) is a geologic period, geologic period and system that spans 43 million years from the end of the Cretaceous Period million yea ...

. The first specimens were found from the

Danata Formation The Danata Formation (or Danatinskaya, Danatinsk, Russian: Danata Svita) is an Upper Paleocene to Middle Eocene sedimentary succession located in Turkmenistan. It is mostly famous for its fish-bearing horizons (Ichthyofauna). The formation for ex ...

Lagerstätten, of the

Thanetian The Thanetian is, in the International Commission on Stratigraphy, ICS Geologic timescale, the latest age (geology), age or uppermost stage (stratigraphy), stratigraphic stage of the Paleocene epoch (geology), Epoch or series (stratigraphy), Serie ...

age of

Turkmenistan Turkmenistan ( or ; tk, Türkmenistan / Түркменистан, ) is a country located in Central Asia, bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the sout ...

, where they were originally thought to be smaller or juvenile individuals of the true louvar, ''

Luvarus necopinatus ''Luvaris necopinatus'' is a species of extinct louvar that lived in the Tethys Ocean during the early Paleogene. It differs from the modern species, ''L. imperialis'', in that ''L. necopinatus'' has an oval body shape, and is around one foot ...

''. These specimens were later reexamined, and determined to be a separate genus comprising two species.
Phylogenetic Revision of the Fish Families

Luvar The louvar or luvar (''Luvarus imperialis'') is a species of perciform fish, the only extant species in the genus ''Luvarus'' and family Luvaridae. It is closely related to the surgeonfish. The juvenile form has a pair of spines near the base of ...

idae and †

Kushlukiidae ''Kushlukia'' is an extinct genus of prehistoric bony fish, closely related to the luvar, that lived during the lower Eocene. ''K. permira'' is from Eocene portion of the Danata Formation Lagerstatten (which otherwise spans the Thanetian epoch ...

(

Acanthuroidei Acanthuroidei , is a clade of ray finned fishes which is a suborder of the Acanthuriformes, although it is regarded as a suborder of the Perciformes, the largest order of fish. The suborder includes the surgeonfish and Moorish idol. Members o ...

), with a New Genus and Two New Species of Eocene Luvarids A third species, ''A. eocaenicus'' is known from the

Middle Eocene The Eocene ( ) Epoch is a geological epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (mya). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period in the modern Cenozoic Era. The name ''Eocene'' comes from the Ancient Greek (''ēṓs'', "dawn ...

of the Kumsky Horizon, in what is now the Northern

Caucasus Mountains The Caucasus Mountains, : pronounced * hy, Կովկասյան լեռներ, : pronounced * az, Qafqaz dağları, pronounced * rus, Кавка́зские го́ры, Kavkázskiye góry, kɐfˈkasːkʲɪje ˈɡorɨ * tr, Kafkas Dağla ...

in Southwestern

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

. ''Avitoluvarus'' differs from modern louvars in that the former's forehead does not bulge out as much, giving the appearance of having the face appear higher.

References

Luvaridae Eocene genus extinctions Paleogene fish of Asia Prehistoric ray-finned fish genera {{acanthuroidei-stub