Redfieldius Temporal range: Early Jurassic,
| |
---|---|
Fossil specimen at the UMMNH | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Actinopterygii |
Order: | †Redfieldiiformes |
Family: | †Redfieldiidae |
Genus: | †Redfieldius Hay, 1899 |
Species: | †R. gracilis
|
Binomial name | |
†Redfieldius gracilis (Redfield, 1837)
| |
Synonyms | |
|
Redfieldius is an extinct genus of freshwater ray-finned fish that inhabited eastern North America during the Early Jurassic period. It contains a single species, R. gracilis, known from the Hettangian to the Sinemurian of the northeastern United States. It is the type genus and was the last surviving member of the order Redfieldiiformes, which was widespread and diverse throughout the preceding Triassic period.[1][2] It is notable for representing possibly the first fossil bony fish collected from North America, with a specimen from Middletown collected in 1816 by Benjamin Silliman.[3]