Misplaced Pages

Dorypterus

Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.
Extinct genus of fishes

Dorypterus
Temporal range: Wuchiapingian
~254.14–259.1 Ma PreꞒ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Restoration of Dorypterus hoffmani
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Bobasatraniiformes
Family: Dorypteridae
Gill, 1925
Genus: Dorypterus
Germar, 1842
Type species
Dorypterus hoffmanni
Germar, 1842
Other species

Dorypterus is a small, extinct genus of prehistoric marine ray-finned fish. It lived during the Wuchiapingian stage of the late Permian epoch in what is now Germany (Kupferschiefer) and England (Marl Slate). Indeterminate remains are known from Hunan, China. It is a hypsisomatic bobasatraniiform with a high dorsal fin. Due to anatomical differences with other bobasatraniiforms, such as the presence of pelvic fins and the reduced scale cover, Dorypterus is placed in its own monotypic family, Dorypteridae.

Two species are known, D. hoffmanni and D. althausi, which are distinguished by differences in length of the dorsal fin. Whereas D. hoffmanni has a long dorsal fin, the dorsal fin of D. althausi is short. However, it is possible that this difference is due to sexual dimorphism, and that D. althausi represents the female phenotype of D. hoffmanni. More recent surveys have D. hoffmanni as the only species in the genus.

Dorypterus, with its deep body, was likely adapted for a slow-swimming lifestyle akin to modern reef fishes. It likely inhabited shallow lagoons dominated by large forests of algae, which it fed on with its scissor-like jaws. It may have been preyed upon by Coelacanthus.

References

  1. ^ Romano, Carlo; Koot, Martha B.; Kogan, Ilja; Brayard, Arnaud; Minikh, Alla V.; Brinkmann, Winand; Bucher, Hugo; Kriwet, Jürgen (February 2016). "Permian-Triassic Osteichthyes (bony fishes): diversity dynamics and body size evolution". Biological Reviews. 91 (1): 106–147. doi:10.1111/brv.12161. PMID 25431138. S2CID 5332637.
  2. "PBDB Taxon". paleobiodb.org. Retrieved 2024-12-12.
  3. Schaumberg, Günther (1977). "Die Richelsdorfer Kupferschiefer und seine Fossilien, III". Aufschluss. 28: 297–352.
  4. Gill, E. Leonard (1925). "XXXI.—The Permian Fish Dorypterus". Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. 53 (3): 643–661. doi:10.1017/S0080456800027526. ISSN 2053-5945.
  5. Westoll, T. S. (1941). "The Permian Fishes Dorypterus and Lekanichthys". Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London. B111 (1–2): 39–58. doi:10.1111/j.1469-7998.1941.tb00042.x. ISSN 1469-7998.

See also

Actinopterygian genera
Gnathostomata
Actinopterygii
    • see below↓
Actinopterygii
Actinopterygii
Howqualepididae
Mimiidae
Post-Devonian taxa
    • see below↓
Cheirolepis trailli
Post-Devonian taxa
Post-Devonian taxa
Acrolepidae
Aeduellidae
Aesopichthyidae
Amblypteridae
Bobasatraniiformes
Bobasatraniidae
Canobiidae
Discordichthyidae
Eigiliidae
Elonichthyidae
Eurynotiformes
Amphicentridae
Styracopteridae
Eurynotoidiformes
Gonatodidae
Guildayichthyidae
Haplolepidae
Igornichthyidae
Palaeoniscidae
Platysomidae
Ptycholepidae
Pygopteridae
Rhadinichthyidae
Saurichthyiformes
Saurichthyidae
Tarrasiidae
Turseoidae
Uighuroniscidae
Cladistia
Actinopteri
Chondrostei
Neopterygii
Acrolepis gigas

Amblypterus macropterus Birgeria sp. Birgeria sp. Amphicentrum granulosum Mamulichthys ignotus Palaeoniscum freieslebeni

Taxon identifiers
Dorypterus althausi


Stub icon

This article about a prehistoric Chondrostei fish is a stub. You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it.

Categories: