Cladistia is a

clade A clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that are monophyletic – that is, composed of a common ancestor and all its lineal descendants – on a phylogenetic tree. Rather than the English ter ...

bony fishes Osteichthyes (), popularly referred to as the bony fish, is a diverse superclass of fish that have skeletons primarily composed of bone tissue. They can be contrasted with the Chondrichthyes, which have skeletons primarily composed of cartilage ...

whose only living members are the bichirs. Their major

synapomorphies In phylogenetics, an apomorphy (or derived trait) is a novel character or character state that has evolved from its ancestral form (or plesiomorphy). A synapomorphy is an apomorphy shared by two or more taxa and is therefore hypothesized to ha ...

are a heterocercal tail in which the

dorsal fin A dorsal fin is a fin located on the back of most marine and freshwater vertebrates within various taxa of the animal kingdom. Many species of animals possessing dorsal fins are not particularly closely related to each other, though through c ...

has independent rays, and a posteriorly elongated

parasphenoid The parasphenoid is a bone which can be found in the cranium of many vertebrates. It is an unpaired dermal bone which lies at the midline of the roof of the mouth. In many reptiles (including birds), it fuses to the endochondral (cartilage-derived) ...

. Cladistia are the earliest diverging branch of living

Actinopterygii Actinopterygii (; ), members of which are known as ray-finned fishes, is a class of bony fish. They comprise over 50% of living vertebrate species. The ray-finned fishes are so called because their fins are webs of skin supported by bony or h ...

, sister group of

Actinopteri Actinopteri is the sister group of Cladistia in the class Actinopterygii (ray-finned fish). Dating back to the Permian period, the Actinopteri comprise the Chondrostei (sturgeons and paddlefish) and the Neopterygii (bowfin, gars, and teleos ...

, the group which includes all other living ray finned fish. Aside from bichirs, other extinct fish groups thought to be members of the group include the Scanilepiformes, known from the

Triassic The Triassic ( ) is a geologic period and system which spans 50.6 million years from the end of the Permian Period 251.902 million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Jurassic Period 201.36 Mya. The Triassic is the first and shortest per ...

period.

Taxonomy

Based on work done by

Lund Lund (, , ) is a city in the southern Swedish province of Scania, across the Öresund strait from Copenhagen. The town had 91,940 inhabitants out of a municipal total of 121,510 . It is the seat of Lund Municipality, Scania County. The Öre ...

2000 * Order †

Guildayichthyiformes Guildayichthyidae is a prehistoric family of marine fish from the Mississippian Bear Gulch Limestone of Montana. It is the only family in the order Guildayichthyiformes. Guildayichthyids possess an uncommon mixture of primitive and modern chara ...

Lund 2000 ** Family † Guildayichthyidae Lund 2000 *** Genus †'' Guildayichthys'' Lund 2000 **** Species †'' Guildayichthys carnegiei'' Lund 2000 *** Genus †'' Discoserra'' Lund 2000 **** Species †'' Discoserra pectinodon'' Lund 2000 * Order

Polypteriformes Bichirs and the reedfish comprise Polypteridae , a family of archaic ray-finned fishes and the only family in the order Polypteriformes .Helfman GS, Collette BB, Facey DE, Bowen BW. 2009. The Diversity of Fishes. West Sussex, UK: Blackwell Pu ...

Bleeker 1859 ** Genus †'' Latinopollia'' Meunier and Gayet 1998 *** Species †'' Latinopollia suarezi'' (Meunier & Gayet 1996) Meunier & Gayet 1998 ** Genus †'' Dagetella'' Gayet & Meunier 1991 *** Species †'' Dagetella sudamericana'' Gayet & Meunier 1991 ** Genus †'' Bartschichthys'' Gayet & Meunier 1996 'Bartschia'' Gayet & Meunier 1996 non Rehder 1943*** Species †'' B. arnoulti'' (Gayet & Meunier 1996) 'Bartschia_arnoulti''_Gayet_&_Meunier_1996.html" ;"title="Bartschia_arnoulti.html" ;"title="' 'Bartschia_arnoulti''_Gayet_&_Meunier_1996">Bartschia_arnoulti.html"_;"title="'Bartschia_arnoulti">'Bartschia_arnoulti''_Gayet_&_Meunier_1996***_Species_†''[ 'Bartschia_arnoulti''_Gayet_&_Meunier_1996">Bartschia_arnoulti.html"_;"title="'Bartschia_arnoulti">'Bartschia_arnoulti''_Gayet_&_Meunier_1996***_Species_†''Bartschichthys_napatensis">B._napatensis''_Werner_&_Gayet_1997 ***_Species_†''Bartschichthys_tubularis.html" ;"title="artschichthys_napatensis.html" ;"title="Bartschia arnoulti">'Bartschia arnoulti'' Gayet & Meunier 1996">Bartschia_arnoulti.html" ;"title="'Bartschia arnoulti">'Bartschia arnoulti'' Gayet & Meunier 1996*** Species †''Bartschichthys napatensis">B. napatensis'' Werner & Gayet 1997 *** Species †''Bartschichthys tubularis">B. tubularis'' (Gayet & Meunier 1996) [''Bartschia tubularis'' Gayet & Meunier 1996] ** Genus †''Sudania'' Werner & Gayet 1997 *** Species †''Sudania gracilis, S. gracilis'' Werner & Gayet 1997 *** Species †'' S. oblonga'' Werner & Gayet 1997 ** Genus †'' Saharichthys'' Werner & Gayet 1997 *** Species †'' S. nigeriensis'' (Gayet & Meunier 1996) 'Sainthilairia_nigeriensis''_Gayet_&_Meunier_1996.html" ;"title="Sainthilairia_nigeriensis.html" ;"title="' 'Sainthilairia_nigeriensis''_Gayet_&_Meunier_1996">Sainthilairia_nigeriensis.html"_;"title="'Sainthilairia_nigeriensis">'Sainthilairia_nigeriensis''_Gayet_&_Meunier_1996***_Species_†''Saharichthys_africanus.html" ;"title="Sainthilairia nigeriensis">'Sainthilairia nigeriensis'' Gayet & Meunier 1996">Sainthilairia_nigeriensis.html" ;"title="'Sainthilairia nigeriensis">'Sainthilairia nigeriensis'' Gayet & Meunier 1996*** Species †''Saharichthys africanus">S. africanus'' (Gayet & Meunier 1996) [''Sainthilairia africana'' Gayet & Meunier 1996] ** Genus †''Sainthilairia'' Gayet & Meunier 1996 *** Species †''S. beccussiformis'' Gayet & Meunier 1996 *** Species †''S. elongata'' Werner & Gayet 1997 *** Species †''S. falciformis'' Gayet & Meunier 1996 *** Species †''S. grandis'' Gayet & Meunier 1996 *** Species †''S. intermedia'' Werner & Gayet 1997 ** Genus †'' Inbecetemia'' Werner & Gayet 1997 *** Species †'' I. torta'' (Gayet & Meunier 1996) 'Sainthilairia_torta''_Gayet_&_Meunier_1996.html" ;"title="Sainthilairia_torta.html" ;"title="' 'Sainthilairia_torta''_Gayet_&_Meunier_1996">Sainthilairia_torta.html"_;"title="'Sainthilairia_torta">'Sainthilairia_torta''_Gayet_&_Meunier_1996***_Species_†''Inbecetemia_tortissima.html" ;"title="Sainthilairia torta">'Sainthilairia torta'' Gayet & Meunier 1996">Sainthilairia_torta.html" ;"title="'Sainthilairia torta">'Sainthilairia torta'' Gayet & Meunier 1996*** Species †''Inbecetemia tortissima">I. tortissima'' (Gayet & Meunier 1996) [''Sainthilairia tortissima'' Gayet & Meunier 1996] ** Genus †''Nagaia'' Werner & Gayet 1997 *** Species †''Nagaia extrema'' Werner & Gayet 1997 ** Family Polypteridae Lacépède 1803 sensu stricto *** Genus †'' Bawitius'' Grandstaff et al. 2012 **** Species †'' Bawitius bartheli'' (Schaal 1984) Grandstaff et al. 2012 'Polypterus_bartheli''_Schaal_1984.html" ;"title="Polypterus_bartheli.html" ;"title="'Polypterus bartheli">'Polypterus bartheli'' Schaal 1984">Polypterus_bartheli.html" ;"title="'Polypterus bartheli">'Polypterus bartheli'' Schaal 1984*** Genus †''Serenoichthys'' Dutheil 1999 **** Species †''Serenoichthys kemkemensis'' Dutheil 1999 *** Genus ''Erpetoichthys'' Smith 1865 [''Calamoichthys'' Smith 1866] **** Species '' Erpetoichthys calabaricus'' *** Genus ''

Polypterus ''Polypterus'' is a genus of freshwater fish in the bichir family (Polypteridae) of order Polypteriformes. The type species is the Nile bichir (''P. bichir''). Fish in this genus live in various areas in Africa. ''Polypterus'' is the only kno ...

'' Lacepède 1803 **** Species '' Polypterus ansorgii''

Boulenger Boulenger is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Benjamin Boulenger (born 1990), French footballer * Edward George Boulenger (1888–1946), British zoologist, director of aquarium at London Zoo * George Albert Boulenger (1858– ...

, 1910 **** Species ''

Polypterus bichir ''Polypterus bichir'', the Nile bichir, is a fish which lives in the Nile and some of its tributaries in Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 millio ...

'' Lacépède, 1803 **** Species '' Polypterus congicus''

, 1898 **** Species '' Polypterus delhezi''

, 1899 **** Species '' Polypterus endlicheri'' Heckel, 1847 **** Species '' Polypterus mokelembembe'' Schliewen &

Schäfer Schaefer is an alternative spelling and cognate for the German word ''schäfer'', meaning 'shepherd', which itself descends from the Old High German '' scāphare''. Variants "Shaefer", "Schäfer" (a standardized spelling in many German-speakin ...

, 2006 **** Species '' Polypterus ornatipinnis''

, 1902 **** Species '' Polypterus palmas'' Ayres, 1850 **** Species '' Polypterus polli'' J. P. Gosse, 1988 **** Species '' Polypterus retropinnis'' Vaillant, 1899 **** Species '' Polypterus senegalus''

Cuvier Jean Léopold Nicolas Frédéric, Baron Cuvier (; 23 August 1769 – 13 May 1832), known as Georges Cuvier, was a French naturalist and zoologist, sometimes referred to as the "founding father of paleontology". Cuvier was a major figure in nat ...

, 1829 **** Species '' Polypterus teugelsi'' Britz, 2004 **** Species '' Polypterus weeksii''

, 1898

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q144462 Ray-finned fish taxonomy Vertebrate subclasses