Amiidae
Amiidae | ||||||||||||
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Northern pike ( Amia calva ) |
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Temporal occurrence | ||||||||||||
Kimmeridgian (Upper Jurassic) to this day | ||||||||||||
155.7 to 0 million years | ||||||||||||
Locations | ||||||||||||
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Systematics | ||||||||||||
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Scientific name | ||||||||||||
Amiidae | ||||||||||||
Bonaparte , 1832 |
The Amiidae are a family of primeval bony fish that are extinct with the exception of the North American bald pike ( Amia calva ). In the upper Mesozoic , the family with numerous species and genera also occurred in Europe and other continents, especially the northern hemisphere. Most of the Amiidae were freshwater fish, but there were also some marine representatives. The last European representatives lived 48 to 40 million years ago in the Lutetian (Eocene) and have been found in the Messel mine in Hesse and the Geiseltal in Saxony-Anhalt .
features
The Amiidae are elongated predatory fish that are almost round in cross section. The dorsal fin of today's bald pike and some fossil forms is long, occupying more than half the length of the body and is the main driving organ. However, there were also numerous genera with short dorsal fin.
The Amiidae display a pattern of primitive and advanced features. Their caudal fin is short and outwardly almost symmetrical and rounded or forked, but the caudal fin skeleton is heterocerk . The neural arches of the caudal vertebrae are not converted to uroneuralia . The number of urodermalia is two or less. The ratio of fin carriers and hypuralia in the tail fin skeleton is around 1: 1.
In the upper jaw there is only a single supramaxillary and no supraoccipital in the skull. The premaxillary is not protractile (cannot be extended), but is firmly attached to the skull. On the lower side of the gill region there are some Branchiostegal rays . In addition, it is protected by a large throat-bone plate (gularia). Similar to almost all real bony fish (Teleostei), the Amiidae have an additional ventral element in the jaw joint with the symplecticum . The joint for the lower jaw is formed together with the quadratum , but is designed differently than that of the teleostei. The vertebral anatomy is also primitive, the vertebral bodies never hollowed out at the back. The scales have no ganoin layer and are no longer rhombic but cycloid.
External system
The Amiidae form the order of the Amiiformes with three other extinct families from the Mesozoic Era , the Caturidae , the Liodesmidae and the Asian Sinamiidae . The three families lived mostly in the sea, while the Amiidae are mostly freshwater inhabitants.
Internal system
- Family Amiidae
- Subfamily Amiinae (Upper Cretaceous to this day)
- Amia
- † Cyclurus
- † Pseudamiatus
- Subfamily Amiopsinae (Lower Cretaceous)
- † Amiopsis
- Subfamily Solnhofenamiinae (Upper Jura)
- Subfamily Vidalamiinae (Middle Cretaceous to Eocene)
- † Calamopleurus
- † Maliamia
- † Melvius
- † Pachyamia
- † Vidalamia
- incertae sedis
- Subfamily Amiinae (Upper Cretaceous to this day)
literature
- Robert L. Carroll : Paleontology and Evolution of the Vertebrates. Thieme, Stuttgart et al. 1993, ISBN 3-13774-401-6 .
- Lance Grande & William E. Bemis: A Comprehensive Phylogenetic Study of Amiid Fishes (Amiidae) Based on Comparative Skeletal Anatomy. an Empirical Search for Interconnected Patterns of Natural History. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, DOI: 10.1080 / 02724634.1998.10011114
- Joseph S. Nelson : Fishes of the World. 4th edition. John Wiley & Sons, Hoboken NJ 2006, ISBN 0-471-25031-7 .
- Melanie LJ Stiassny, Lynne R. Parenti, G. David Johnson: Interrelationships of Fishes. Academic Press, San Diego CA et al. 1996, ISBN 0-12-670950-5 , Google Books .
Web links
- The Paleobiology Database: Amiidae
- Palaeos: Neopterygii: Amiiformes: Amiidae