''Beerichthys ingens'' is an extinct prehistoric bony fish that was a member of the

Ypresian In the geologic timescale the Ypresian is the oldest age or lowest stratigraphic stage of the Eocene. It spans the time between , is preceded by the Thanetian Age (part of the Paleocene) and is followed by the Eocene Lutetian Age. The Ypresian ...

London Clay The London Clay Formation is a marine geological formation of Ypresian (early Eocene Epoch, c. 56–49 million years ago) age which crops out in the southeast of England. The London Clay is well known for its fossil content. The fossils from t ...

fauna of lower

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'', " ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. It is known only from a series of incomplete skulls. When originally described in 1966, ''B. ingens'' was placed in a

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispe ...

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

, "Beerichthyidae," within Iniomi. Later, more (also incomplete) skulls were studied by Colin Patterson, who determined that the fish was a louvar.
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 epoc ...

(

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

References

Eocene fish Luvaridae Eocene fish of Europe Prehistoric ray-finned fish genera {{acanthuroidei-stub

See also

References