Archaeus

Not to be confused with Archeus, Archaea, or Arceus.
Archaeus
Temporal range: Early Eocene to Early Oligocene, 56.0–28.1 Ma
A. glarisianus & "A. brevis"
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Carangiformes
Family: Carangidae
Genus: †Archaeus
Agassiz, 1844
Type species
Archaeus glarisianus
Agassiz 1844
Species

See text

Synonyms
  • Archaeoides
    Rath 1859

Archaeus (Greek for "ancient one") is an extinct genus of marine jackfish from the Paleogene of Europe, where it inhabited the former Tethys Ocean. The oldest species, A. oblongus is from the early Ypresian epoch of Eocene Turkmenistan, and the last species, A. glarisianus and A. solus, are from the early to middle Rupelian, of the Oligocene lagerstatten of Canton Glarus, Switzerland and the Pshekha Formation of North Caucasus, Russia.[1][2]

In life, Archaeus species would have resembled a small trevally, though, Archaeus had a proportionally smaller mouth, and larger eyes, and the tail was more fan-shaped, rather than crescent-shaped.

Fossil of A. glarisianus

The following species are known:[1][2]

  • A. glarisianus Agassiz, 1844 (Early Oligocene of Switzerland and Germany)
  • A. oblongus Daniltshenko, 1968 (Early Eocene of Danata Formation, Turkmenistan)
  • A. solus Bannikov & Erebakan, 2023 (Early Oligocene of North Caucasus, Russia)[2]

The former species A. brevis is no longer considered valid. A specimen of A. glarisianus from the Oligocene of Abkhazia is now thought to represent an extinct species of Caranx, C. daniltshenkoi.[2]

A. oblongus from Eocene Turkmenistan
  1. ^ a b "PBDB". paleobiodb.org. Retrieved 2024-03-01.
  2. ^ a b c d Bannikov, A. F.; Erebakan, I. G. (2023-04-01). "A New Species of Horse Mackerel Fish of the Genus Archaeus (Carangidae, Percomorpha) from the Lower Oligocene of the North Caucasus". Paleontological Journal. 57 (2): 199–205. doi:10.1134/S0031030123020041. ISSN 1555-6174.