BETA TEST - Fossil data and pages are very much experimental and under development. Please report any problems
Polypteridae
| Description | Bichirs and the reedfish comprise Polypteridae, a family of archaic-looking ray-finned fishes and the only family in the order Polypteriformes. From Wikipedia article at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polypteridae, which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Source Data |
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rank | family | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Taxonomy (GBIF) | Life : Animalia : Chordata : Actinopterygii : Polypteriformes : Polypteridae | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Taxonomy (PBDB) | Life : Animalia : Chordata : Cladistia : Polypteriformes : Polypteridae | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Taxonomic Status (GBIF) | accepted | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Classification (PBDB,GBIF) |
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Common Name | bichir | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Scientific Name | Polypteridae | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Opinions (PBDB) |
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Status (PBDB) | extant | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Taxon Size (PBDB) | 6 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Extant Size (PBDB) | 2 (33%) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| First Recorded Appearance | 101 - 94 Ma Late/Upper Cretaceous | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Environment | freshwater | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Motility | actively mobile (based on Actinopterygii) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Taphonomy | phosphatic (based on Vertebrata) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Primary Reference (PBDB) | P. C. Sereno, E. A. A. Garcea, and H. Jousse, C. M. Stojanowski, J.-F. Saliège, A. Maga, O. A. Ide, K. J. Knudson, A. M. Mercuri, T. W. Stafford, Jr, T. G. Kaye, C. Giraudi, I. Massamba N.'siala, E. Cocca, H. M. Moots, D. B. Dutheil, J. P. Stivers. 2008. Lakeside cemeteries in the Sahara: 5000 years of Holocene population and environmental change. PLoS ONE 3(8):e2995 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Common Name(s) | Bichirs, Birchers, Lobed-finned Pike, Reed Fishes, Kwastsnoeken, Bichir | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wikipedia | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polypteridae |
External Images
Fossil Distribution
Subtaxa
| Name | Status | Common Name(s) | Fossil Occurrences | Oldest | Youngest |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bawitius ✝ genus | accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB) | 1 | 101 Ma Late/Upper Cretaceous | 101 Ma Late/Upper Cretaceous | |
| Erpetoichthys genus | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Polypterus genus | accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB) | Bichir | 52 | 48.6 Ma Eocene | 0 Ma Extant |
| Prohalecites genus | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Protosphyraena genus | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Pteronisculus genus | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Serenoichthys ✝ genus | accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB) | 1 | 99.6 Ma Late/Upper Cretaceous | 99.6 Ma Late/Upper Cretaceous | |
Synonymy List
| Year | Name and Author |
|---|---|
| 1887 | Polypteridae Cope p. 1018 |
| 1963 | Polypteridae Jordan p. 610 |
| 2008 | Polypteridae Sereno et al. |
| 2013 | Polypteridae Betancur-R. et al. |
| 2015 | Polypteridae Otero et al. p. 5 |
References
Data courtesy of: PBDB: The Paleobiology Database, Creative Commons CC-BY licenced. , GBIF: the Global Biodiversity Information Facility, various licences, iDigBio, various licences, and EOL: The Encyclopedia of Life (Open Data Public Domain). Because fossils are made of minerals too!
