Cuneatus

Cuneatus; Temporal range: Late Paleocene–Early Eocene PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Clade:	Ginglymodi
Order:	Lepisosteiformes
Family:	Lepisosteidae
Tribe:	†Cuneatini
Genus:	†Cuneatus; Grande, 2010
Species
	†Cuneatus cuneatus (Cope, 1878); †Cuneatus maximus Brownstein, 2022; †Cuneatus wileyi Grande, 2010;
Synonyms
	Lepisosteus cuneatus Cope, 1878;

Cuneatus is an extinct genus of gar that inhabited western North America during the early Paleogene. As the genus name suggests, they are distinguishable from modern gar by their cuneate (wedge-shaped) heads, with a significantly shortened snout.^[1] Three species are known: C. cuneatus, C. maximus, and C. wileyi.

Taxonomy[edit]

Along with Masillosteus, they are thought to belong to the Cuneatini, a now-extinct tribe of short-snouted gar. The tribe and both genera are thought to have originated in the Cretaceous, despite being only known from Paleogene fossils. Species in Cuneatus are known to have coexisted with species belonging to both extant gar genera (Atractosteus and Lepisosteus) in known localities.^[2]

The type species of the genus was described as "Lepisosteus" cuneatus by Edward Drinker Cope from the Green River Formation of Utah. A 2010 study by Lance Grande found it to be morphologically highly divergent from any of the extant genera, and thus classified it in its own genus Cuneatus, in addition to describing a second species of Cuneatus (C. wileyi) from the Green River Formation.^[1] Both species are common in mass death assemblages from the "Lake Uinta" division of the formation.^[3]^[4]

The largest species in the genus, Cuneatus maximus, was described by Brownstein (2022) from the Willwood Formation of Wyoming, from which it is the first known fossil fish. Its distinct morphology and geographic separation from the other two Cuneatus species indicates it to be the basal species of the genus.^[3]

References[edit]

^ ^a ^b Grande, Lance (2010). "An Empirical Synthetic Pattern Study of Gars (lepisosteiformes) and Closely Related Species, Based Mostly on Skeletal Anatomy. the Resurrection of Holostei". Copeia. 2010 (2A): iii–871. ISSN 0045-8511.
^ Brownstein, Chase Doran; Yang, Liandong; Friedman, Matt; Near, Thomas J. (20 December 2022). "Phylogenomics of the Ancient and Species-Depauperate Gars Tracks 150 Million Years of Continental Fragmentation in the Northern Hemisphere". Systematic Biology. 72 (1): 213–227. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
^ ^a ^b "Unappreciated Cenozoic ecomorphological diversification of stem gars revealed by a new large species – Acta Palaeontologica Polonica". www.app.pan.pl. Retrieved 20 June 2023.
^ Dayvault, Richard D. (1995). "Note on Lepisosteus Cuneatus, A Gar from Lake Uinta". The Green River Formation in Piceance Creek and Eastern Uinta Basins.

[:0-1] Grande, Lance (2010). "An Empirical Synthetic Pattern Study of Gars (lepisosteiformes) and Closely Related Species, Based Mostly on Skeletal Anatomy. the Resurrection of Holostei". Copeia. 2010 (2A): iii–871. ISSN 0045-8511.

[:72-2] Brownstein, Chase Doran; Yang, Liandong; Friedman, Matt; Near, Thomas J. (20 December 2022). "Phylogenomics of the Ancient and Species-Depauperate Gars Tracks 150 Million Years of Continental Fragmentation in the Northern Hemisphere". Systematic Biology. 72 (1): 213–227. Retrieved 5 June 2023.

[:1-3] "Unappreciated Cenozoic ecomorphological diversification of stem gars revealed by a new large species – Acta Palaeontologica Polonica". www.app.pan.pl. Retrieved 20 June 2023.

[4] Dayvault, Richard D. (1995). "Note on Lepisosteus Cuneatus, A Gar from Lake Uinta". The Green River Formation in Piceance Creek and Eastern Uinta Basins.

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