Palaeoniscidae

{{Short description|Extinct family of fishes}} {{Automatic taxobox | fossil_range = {{fossil range|272|252|Guadalupian-Lopingian | earliest=299 | latest= 66}} | image = Palaeoniscum freieslebenense 32.jpg | image_caption = ''Palaeoniscum freieslebeni'' fossil | taxon = Palaeoniscidae | authority = Bonaparte, 1846<ref name="van der Laan"/> }} 225px|thumb|Restoration of ''Palaeoniscum freieslebeni'' showing the typical morphology of most taxa that have been referred to Palaeoniscidae '''Palaeoniscidae''' is an extinct family of "palaeoniscoid" ray-finned fishes (Actinopterygii).<ref name="Schultze2022">{{Cite book |last1=Schultze |first1=Hans-Peter |last2=Mickle |first2=Kathryn E. |last3=Poplin |first3=Cécile |last4=Hilton |first4=Eric J. |last5=Grande |first5=Lance |date=2022 |title=Handbook of Paleoichthyology 8A: Actinopterygii I. |publisher=Dr. Friedrich Pfeil}}</ref> The family includes the genus ''Palaeoniscum'' and potentially other Palaeozoic and Mesozoic early actinopterygian genera. The name is derived from the Ancient Greek words παλαιός (''palaiós'', ancient) and ὀνίσκος (''oniskos'', 'cod-fish' or woodlouse).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Roberts |first1=George |title=An etymological and explanatory dictionary of the terms and language of geology |date=1839 |publisher=Longman, Orme, Brown, Green, & Longmans |location=London |page=129 |url=https://archive.org/details/anetymologicala00robegoog |access-date=31 December 2021 |language=English}}</ref>

==Historic background== The family was first named "Palaeoniscini"<ref name="Bonaparte">{{cite journal |last1=Bonaparte |first1=Charles-Lucien |title=Catalogo metodico dei pesci Europei |journal=Napoli, Stamperia e Cartiere del Fibreno |date=1846 |pages=1–112 |url = https://archive.org/download/catalogometodic00bona/catalogometodic00bona.pdf |doi = 10.5962/bhl.title.59507}}</ref> by Charles Lucien Bonaparte in 1846, and "Palaeonisciden"<ref name="Vogt">{{cite journal |last1=Vogt |first1=Karl Cristoph |title=Zoologische Briefe: Naturgeschichte lebenden und untergegangenen Thiere, für Lehrer, höhere Schulen und Gebildete aller Stände |journal=Literarische Anstalt Frankfurt am Main |date=1851 |volume=2 |pages=1–640 |url = https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/16327#page/136/mode/2up |doi = 10.5962/bhl.title.1369}}</ref> by Carl Vogt in 1851. Later, the family name was standardized to Palaeoniscidae. The authorship of the family Palaeoniscidae is variably attributed to either Bonaparte<ref name="van der Laan">{{cite journal |last=van der Laan |first=Richard |year=2016 |title=Family-group names of fossil fishes |journal=European Journal of Taxonomy |issue=466 |doi=10.5852/ejt.2018.466|doi-access=free }}</ref> or Vogt<ref name="Hoşgör"/> in the literature. Vogt ascribed the following genera to Palaeoniscidae: ''Palaeoniscum'', ''Platysomus'' (misspelled as ''Platysemius''), ''Amblypterus'', ''Eurynotus'', ''Pygopterus'', and ''Acrolepis''.<ref name="Vogt"/> With the exception of ''Palaeoniscum'', these genera were later placed in separate families (Platysomidae, Amblypteridae) or are considered ''incertae sedis''.<ref name="Schultze2022"/>

Over the years, many other genera of Palaeozoic and Mesozoic early actinopterygians have been referred to Palaeoniscidae<ref>{{cite book | last =Hay | first =Oliver Perry | title =Bibliography and Catalogue of the Fossil Vertebrata of North America | publisher =Govt. Print. Off. | year = 1902 | series = Bulletin of the United States Geological Survey | volume = 179 | url =https://books.google.com/books?id=8IMQAAAAIAAJ&q=%22Palaeoniscidae%22&pg=PA365 | page =868 pages | oclc = 681072233}}</ref> due to superficial similarities with the type genus ''Palaeoniscum'' from the Guadalupian-Lopingian (middle-late Permian) of Europe.<ref name="Hoşgör">{{cite journal |last1=Hoşgör |first1=Izzet |last2=Štamberg |first2=Stanislav |title=A first record of late Middle Permian actinopterygian fish from Anatolia, Turkey |journal=Acta Geologica Polonica |date=2014 |volume=64 |issue=2 |pages=147–159 |url = https://geojournals.pgi.gov.pl/agp/article/view/13704 |doi = 10.2478/agp-2014-0009|bibcode=2014AcGeP..64..147H |doi-access=free }}</ref> Similarities were noted in their general morphology, such as the bullet shaped head and forward position of the relatively large eyes, the large gape and oblique jaw support, the body being covered with small, rhombic scales that often show peg-and-socket articulation, and the arrangement and structure of the fins, including the heterocercal caudal fin. However, these features are plesiomorphic for actinopterygians. Many taxa ascribed to Palaeoniscidae lack apomorphies that would securely affiliate them with ''Palaeoniscum''. As a result, Palaeoniscidae ''sensu lato'' has become a wastebasket taxon (probably paraphyletic).

In the strict sense, the Palaeoniscidae should only encompass the genus ''Palaeoniscum'' and only those genera that are closely related to it. However, due to insufficient knowledge of ''Palaeoniscum'' and many other early actinopterygians, and because most of these taxa have never been included in cladistic analyses, it is still uncertain which genera other than ''Palaeoniscum'' should be placed in Palaeoniscidae ''sensu stricto'' to make this a monophyletic group.

==Classification== The following list includes species and genera that have been referred to Palaeoniscidae in the past, usually because of broad resemblance with ''Palaeoniscum freieslebeni''. Many of these taxa are poorly known and have never been analyzed in cladistic studies. Their inclusion in Palaeoniscidae is in most cases doubtful and requires confirmation by cladistic analyses. The listed taxa would imply that the temporal range of the family Palaeoniscidae stretched from the early Permian to the Cretaceous. If only species of ''Palaeoniscum'' are included, the temporal range of the family would be restricted to the middle-late Permian.<ref name="Schultze2022"/><ref name="Hoşgör"/>

* '''Family''' †'''Palaeoniscidae''' Vogt, 1852 ** Genus ?†''Agecephalichthys'' Wade, 1935 *** Species †''Agecephalichthys granulatus'' Wade, 1935 ** Genus ?†''Atherstonia'' Woodward, 1889 [''Broometta'' Chabakov, 1927] *** Species †''Atherstonia scutata'' Woodward, 1889 [''Atherstonia cairncrossi'' Broom, 1913; ''Amblypterus capensis'' Broom, 1913; ''Broometta cairncrossi'' Chabakov, 1927] *** Species †''Atherstonia minor'' Woodward, 1893 ** Genus ?†''Cryphaeiolepis'' Traquair, 1881 *** Species †''Cryphaeiolepis scutata'' Traquair, 1881 ** Genus ?†''Cteniolepidotrichia'' Poplin & Su, 1992 *** Species †''Cteniolepidotrichia turfanensis'' Poplin & Su, 1992 ** Genus †''Dicellopyge'' Brough, 1931 *** Species †''Dicellopyge macrodentata'' Brough, 1931 *** Species †''Dicellopyge lissocephalus'' Brough, 1931 ** Genus ?†''Duwaichthys'' Liu ''et al.'', 1990 *** Species †''Duwaichthys mirabilis'' Liu ''et al.'', 1990 ** Genus ?†''Ferganiscus'' Sytchevskaya & Yakolev, 1999 *** Species †''Ferganiscus osteolepis'' Sytchevskaya & Yakolev, 1999 ** Genus †''Gyrolepis'' Agassiz, 1833 non Kade, 1858 *** Species †''G. albertii'' Agassiz, 1833 *** Species †''G. gigantea'' Agassiz, 1833 *** Species †''G. maxima'' Agassiz, 1833 *** Species †''G. quenstedti'' Dames, 1888 *** Species †''G. tenuistriata'' Agassiz, 1833 ** Genus †''Gyrolepidoides'' Cabrera, 1944 *** Species †''G. creyanus'' Schaeffer, 1955 *** Species †''G. cuyanus'' Cabrera, 1944 *** Species †''G. multistriatus'' Rusconi, 1948 ** Genus ?†''Palaeoniscinotus'' Rohon, 1890 *** Species †''P. czekanowskii'' Rohon, 1890 ** Genus †''Palaeoniscum'' de Blainville, 1818 [''Palaeoniscus'' Agassiz, 1833 non Von Meyer, 1858; ''Palaeoniscas'' Rzchak, 1881; ''Eupalaeoniscus'' Rzchak, 1881; ''Palaeomyzon'' Weigelt, 1930; ''Geomichthys'' Sauvage, 1888] *** Species †''P. angustum'' (Rzehak, 1881) [''Palaeoniscas angustus'' Rzehak, 1881] *** Species †''P. antipodeum'' (Egerton, 1864) [''Palaeoniscus antipodeus'' Egerton, 1864] *** Species †''P. antiquum'' Williams, 1886 *** Species †''P. arenaceum'' Berger, 1832 *** Species †''P. capense'' (Bloom, 1913) [''Palaeoniscus capensis'' Bloom, 1913] *** Species †''P. comtum'' (Agassiz, 1833) [''Palaeoniscus comtus'' Agassiz, 1833] *** Species †''P. daedalium'' Yankevich & Minich, 1998 *** Species †''P. devonicum'' Clarke, 1885 *** Species †''P. elegans'' (Sedgwick, 1829) [''Palaeoniscus elegans'' Sedgwick, 1829] *** Species †''P. freieslebeni'' de Blainville, 1818 [''Eupalaeoniscus freieslebeni'' (de Brainville, 1818); ''Palaeoniscus freieslebeni'' (de Brainville, 1818)] *** Species †''P. hassiae'' (Jaekel, 1898) [''Galeocerdo contortus hassiae'' Jaekel, 1898; ''Palaeomyzon hassiae'' (Jaekel, 1898)] *** Species †''P. kasanense'' Geinitz & Vetter, 1880 *** Species †''P. katholitzkianum'' (Rzehak, 1881) [''Palaeoniscas katholitzkianus'' Rzehak, 1881] *** Species †''P. landrioti'' (le Sauvage, 1890) [''Palaeoniscus landrioti'' le Sauvage, 1890] *** Species †''P. longissimum'' (Agassiz, 1833) [''Palaeoniscus longissimus'' Agassiz, 1833] *** Species †''P. macrophthalmum'' (McCoy, 1855) [''Palaeoniscus macrophthalmus'' McCoy, 1855] *** Species †''P. magnum'' (Woodward, 1937) [''Palaeoniscus magnus'' Woodward, 1937] *** Species †''P. moravicum'' (Rzehak, 1881) [''Palaeoniscas moravicus'' Rzehak, 1881] *** Species †''P. promtu'' (Rzehak, 1881) [''Palaeoniscas promtus'' Rzehak, 1881] *** Species †''P. reticulatum'' Williams, 1886 *** Species †''P. scutigerum'' Newberry, 1868 *** Species †''P. vratislavensis'' (Agassiz, 1833) [''Palaeoniscus vratislavensis'' Agassiz, 1833] ** Genus †''Palaeothrissum'' de Blainville, 1818 *** Species †''P. elegans'' Sedgwick, 1829 *** Species †''P. macrocephalum'' de Blainville, 1818 *** Species †''P. magnum'' de Blainville, 1818 ** Genus ?†''Shuniscus'' Su, 1983 *** Species †''Shuniscus longianalis'' Su, 1983 ** Genus ?†''Suchonichthys'' Minich, 2001 *** Species †''Suchonichthys molini'' Minich, 2001 ** Genus ?†''Trachelacanthus'' Fischer De Waldheim, 1850 *** Species †''Trachelacanthus stschurovskii'' Fischer De Waldheim, 1850 ** Genus ?†''Triassodus'' Su, 1984 *** Species †''Triassodus yanchangensis'' Su, 1984 ** Genus ?†''Turfania'' Liu & Martínez, 1973 *** Species †''T. taoshuyuanensis'' Liu & Martínez, 1973 *** Species †''T. varta'' Wang, 1979 ** Genus ?†''Turgoniscus'' Jakovlev, 1968 *** Species †''Turgoniscus reissi'' Jakovlev, 1968 ** Genus ?†''Weixiniscus'' Su & Dezao, 1994 *** Species †''Weixiniscus microlepis'' Su & Dezao, 1994 ** Genus ?†''Xingshikous'' Liu, 1988 *** Species †''Xingshikous xishanensis'' Liu, 1988 ** Genus ?†''Yaomoshania'' Poplin ''et al.'', 1991 *** Species †''Yaomoshania minutosquama'' Poplin ''et al.'', 1991

==References== {{commons category}} {{Reflist}}

Category:Palaeonisciformes Category:Prehistoric ray-finned fish families Category:Silurian first appearances Category:Cretaceous extinctions