Crossognathiformes Temporal range:
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Rhacolepis fossil | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Actinopterygii |
Division: | Teleostei |
Order: | †Crossognathiformes Taverne, 1989 |
Type genus | |
†Crossognathus Pictet, 1858
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Subgroups | |
See text |
Crossognathiformes is an extinct order of ray-finned fish that lived from the Late Jurassic to the Eocene. Its phylogenetic placement is disputed; some authors have recovered it as part of the teleost stem group,[1] while others place it in a basal position within crown group Teleostei.[2] Other placements have found it to be paraphyletic, with the Varasichthyidae being stem-group teleosts whereas the other, "true" crossognathiforms are crown-group teleosts within the Teleocephala.[2]
The oldest definitive crossognathiforms are known from the Late Jurassic (Oxfordian) of Chile. They diversified afterwards and became a dominant group of marine fish throughout much of the Cretaceous. The last surviving member was the pachyrhizodontid Platinx from the Early Eocene of Monte Bolca, Italy.[3]
Nelson
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