A new early cyprinin from Oligocene of South China

Abstract

Here we describe °Huashancyprinus robustispinus, gen. et sp. nov, a fossil cyprinin fish from the Oligocene of Ningming Basin, Guangxi, South China. It differs from all other cyprinin fishes in the following apomorphic characters: extremely robust last unbranched dorsal and anal fin rays with very fine serrations along posterior edge, the crowns of pharyngeal teeth A2 and A3 with a number of deep grooves on the lateral wall, rather large A3, and relatively deep infraorbital 2. Among the members of the Tribe Cyprinini sensu stricto, it mostly resembles the extant genus Cyprinus, particularly to species Cyprinus micristius and C. fuxianensis, which are restricted to Yunnan, southwestern China. The discovery of the cyprinin °Huashancyprinus from southern China, along with the previously known late Eocene °Cyprinus maomingensis, indicates an early branching of the Cyprininae (Cyprinidae) in this area.