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Polypteridae
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 Publishing. 720 p. All the species occur in freshwater habitats in tropical Africa and the Nile River system, mainly swampy, shallow floodplains and estuaries. Cladistia, polypterids and their fossil relatives, are considered the sister group to all other extant ray-finned fishes (Actinopteri).Dai Suzuki, Matthew C. Brandley, Masayoshi Tokita: ''CORRECTION: The mitochondrial phylogeny of an ancient lineage of ray-finned fishes (Polypteridae) with implications for the evolution of body elongation, pelvic fin loss, and craniofacial morphology in Osteichthyes.'' BMC Evolutionary Biology. Bd. 10, Art.-Nr. 209, 2010, They likely diverged from Actinopteri at least 330 million years ago. A closely related group, the Scanilepiformes, are ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Erpetoichthys
The reedfish, ropefish (more commonly used in the United States), or snakefish, ''Erpetoichthys calabaricus'', is a species of fish in the family Polypteridae alongside the bichirs. It is the only member of the genus ''Erpetoichthys''. It is native to fresh and brackish waters in West and Central Africa. The reedfish possesses a pair of lungs in addition to gills, allowing it to survive in very oxygen-poor water. It is threatened by habitat loss through palm oil plantations, other agriculture, deforestation, and urban development. Description The largest confirmed reedfish museum specimen was long, and three studies where more than 2,000 wild reedfish were caught (using basket traps, meaning that only individuals longer than were retained) found none that exceeded . Although sometimes claimed to reach up to long, this is incorrect. Body elongation in fishes, such as eels, usually happens through the addition of caudal (tail) vertebrae, but in bichirs it has happened throug ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Reedfish
The reedfish, ropefish (more commonly used in the United States), or snakefish, ''Erpetoichthys calabaricus'', is a species of fish in the family Polypteridae alongside the bichirs. It is the only member of the genus ''Erpetoichthys''. It is native to fresh and brackish waters in West and Central Africa. The reedfish possesses a pair of lungs in addition to gills, allowing it to survive in very oxygen-poor water. It is threatened by habitat loss through palm oil plantations, other agriculture, deforestation, and urban development. Description The largest confirmed reedfish museum specimen was long, and three studies where more than 2,000 wild reedfish were caught (using basket traps, meaning that only individuals longer than were retained) found none that exceeded . Although sometimes claimed to reach up to long, this is incorrect. Body elongation in fishes, such as eels, usually happens through the addition of caudal (tail) vertebrae, but in bichirs it has happened throu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Polypterus Bichir
''Polypterus'' is a genus of freshwater fish in the bichir family (biology), family (Polypteridae) of order (biology), order Polypteriformes. The type species is the Polypterus bichir, Nile bichir (''P. bichir''). Fish in this genus live in various areas in Africa. ''Polypterus'' is the only known vertebrate to have lungs, but no trachea. The etymology of the genus name derives from a combination of the Greek language, Greek Prefix (linguistics), prefix πολυ-, ''poly-'' (many) and the root word πτερον, ''pteron'' (wing or fin) – "many fins". Taxonomy Despite the ancient origins of the Polypteriformes, the earliest fossils that can be confidently assigned as being of the ''Polypterus'' lineage are from the Middle Eocene (Lutetian) of Libya. In addition, studies exclusively using phylogenetic inferences have found that ''Polypterus'' may have only diverged from ''Erpetoichthys'' during the Neogene. Species The following species are known: * ''Polypterus ansorg ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 known vertebrate to have lungs, but no trachea. The etymology of the genus name derives from a combination of the Greek prefix πολυ-, ''poly-'' (many) and the root word πτερον, ''pteron'' (wing or fin) – "many fins". Taxonomy Despite the ancient origins of the Polypteriformes, the earliest fossils that can be confidently assigned as being of the ''Polypterus'' lineage are from the Middle Eocene (Lutetian) of Libya. In addition, studies exclusively using phylogenetic inferences have found that ''Polypterus'' may have only diverged from '' Erpetoichthys'' during the Neogene. Species The following species are known: * '' Polypterus ansorgii'' Boulenger, 1910 (Guinean bichir) * ''Polypterus bichir'' Lacépède, 1803 (Nile ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Polypterus Delhezi
The barred bichir, armoured bichir, bandback bichir, or banded bichir (''Polypterus delhezi'') is a species of fish belonging to the class Actinopterygii, or the ray-finned fish, which constitute an order of the class of the bony fish. an elongated fish found in the Congo River The Congo River, formerly also known as the Zaire River, is the second-longest river in Africa, shorter only than the Nile, as well as the third-largest river in the world list of rivers by discharge, by discharge volume, following the Amazon Ri ..., specifically in the upper and middle portions. This species is one of the more commonly available in commercial pet stores. The species was named in honor of Belgian artist and naturalist Henri Paul Delhez (1870–1900), who collected type and provided life-history notes on bichirs based on interviews with locals; his collections and field observations were useful in the preparation of Boulenger's book on Congo fishes. Description ''P. delhezi'' is grey ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scanilepiformes
Cladistia is a subclass of bony fishes whose only living members are the bichirs of tropical Africa. Their major synapomorphies are a heterocercal tail in which the dorsal fin has independent rays, and a posteriorly elongated parasphenoid. Cladistia are the earliest diverging branch of living Actinopterygii, and are thought to have diverged from the Actinopteri, the group which includes all other living ray finned fish, by the Carboniferous. However, the fossil range for the only extant order (Polypteriformes) is comparatively young, only reaching as far back as the mid-Cretaceous of South America and Africa, and the two extant genera of bichir only diverged around the Miocene. Aside from bichirs, other extinct fish groups thought to be members of the group include the Scanilepiformes, known from Triassic (and possibly Permian) of the Northern Hemisphere. The Guildayichthyiformes of Carboniferous North America are also sometimes considered cladistians, but this is thought to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cladistia
Cladistia is a subclass of bony fishes whose only living members are the bichirs of tropical Africa. Their major synapomorphies are a heterocercal tail in which the dorsal fin has independent rays, and a posteriorly elongated parasphenoid. Cladistia are the earliest diverging branch of living Actinopterygii, and are thought to have diverged from the Actinopteri, the group which includes all other living ray finned fish, by the Carboniferous. However, the fossil range for the only extant order ( Polypteriformes) is comparatively young, only reaching as far back as the mid-Cretaceous of South America and Africa, and the two extant genera of bichir only diverged around the Miocene. Aside from bichirs, other extinct fish groups thought to be members of the group include the Scanilepiformes, known from Triassic (and possibly Permian) of the Northern Hemisphere. The Guildayichthyiformes of Carboniferous North America are also sometimes considered cladistians, but this is thought ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Triassic
The Triassic ( ; sometimes symbolized 🝈) is a geologic period and system which spans 50.5 million years from the end of the Permian Period 251.902 million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Jurassic Period 201.4 Mya. The Triassic is the first and shortest period of the Mesozoic Era and the seventh period of the Phanerozoic Eon. Both the start and end of the period are marked by major extinction events. The Triassic Period is subdivided into three epochs: Early Triassic, Middle Triassic and Late Triassic. The Triassic began in the wake of the Permian–Triassic extinction event, which left the Earth's biosphere impoverished; it was well into the middle of the Triassic before life recovered its former diversity. Three categories of organisms can be distinguished in the Triassic record: survivors from the extinction event, new groups that flourished briefly, and other new groups that went on to dominate the Mesozoic Era. Reptiles, especially archosaurs, were the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Actinopteri
Actinopteri () is the sister group of Cladistia (bichirs) in the class Actinopterygii (ray-finned fish). Dating back to the Permian period, the Actinopteri comprise the Chondrostei (sturgeons and paddlefish), the Holostei ( bowfins and gars), and the teleosts; in other words, all extant ray-finned fish other than the bichirs. In this clade the lungs have evolved into a swim bladder. Characters of Actinopteri include paired fin structure, a single dorsal fin, fulcra, a large median gular and numerous branchiostegals, ganoid scales, and a valvula cerebelli in the brain. Classification The following cladogram summarizes the evolutionary relationships of extant Actinopteri. Divergence time for each clade In biology, a clade (), also known as a Monophyly, monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that is composed of a common ancestor and all of its descendants. Clades are the fundamental unit of cladistics, a modern approach t ... in mya are based on: ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Permian
The Permian ( ) is a geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system which spans 47 million years, from the end of the Carboniferous Period million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Triassic Period 251.902 Mya. It is the sixth and last period of the Paleozoic Era; the following Triassic Period belongs to the Mesozoic Era. The concept of the Permian was introduced in 1841 by geologist Sir Roderick Murchison, who named it after the Perm Governorate, region of Perm in Russia. The Permian witnessed the diversification of the two groups of amniotes, the synapsids and the Sauropsida, sauropsids (reptiles). The world at the time was dominated by the supercontinent Pangaea, which had formed due to the collision of Euramerica and Gondwana during the Carboniferous. Pangaea was surrounded by the superocean Panthalassa. The Carboniferous rainforest collapse left behind vast regions of desert within the continental interior. Amniotes, which could better cope with these ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dorsal Fin
A dorsal fin is a fin on the back of most marine and freshwater vertebrates. Dorsal fins have evolved independently several times through convergent evolution adapting to marine environments, so the fins are not all homologous. They are found in most fish, in mammals such as whales, and in extinct ancient marine reptiles such as ichthyosaurs. Most have only one dorsal fin, but some have two or three. Wildlife biologists often use the distinctive nicks and wear patterns which develop on the dorsal fins of whales to identify individuals in the field. The bones or cartilages that support the dorsal fin in fish are called pterygiophores. Functions The main purpose of the dorsal fin is usually to stabilize the animal against rolling and to assist in sudden turns. Some species have further adapted their dorsal fins to other uses. The sunfish uses the dorsal fin (and the anal fin Fins are moving appendages protruding from the body of fish that interact with water to ge ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Late Cretaceous
The Late Cretaceous (100.5–66 Ma) is the more recent of two epochs into which the Cretaceous Period is divided in the geologic time scale. Rock strata from this epoch form the Upper Cretaceous Series. The Cretaceous is named after ''creta'', the Latin word for the white limestone known as chalk. The chalk of northern France and the white cliffs of south-eastern England date from the Cretaceous Period. Climate During the Late Cretaceous, the climate was warmer than present, although throughout the period a cooling trend is evident. The tropics became restricted to equatorial regions and northern latitudes experienced markedly more seasonal climatic conditions. Geography Due to plate tectonics, the Americas were gradually moving westward, causing the Atlantic Ocean to expand. The Western Interior Seaway divided North America into eastern and western halves; Appalachia and Laramidia. India maintained a northward course towards Asia. In the Southern Hemisphere, Aus ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
