Amiid Fishes Research Articles

Bat consumption by holostean fishes in the Eocene Lake Messel: insights into the trophic adaptability of extinct gars and bowfins.

Direct evidence of trophic interactions between extinct species is rarely available in the fossil record. Here, we describe fish-mammal associations from the middle Eocene of Messel (Germany), consisting of three specimens of holosteans (one Atractosteus messelensis (Lepisosteidae) and two Cyclurus kehreri (Amiidae)) each preserved with a bat specimen (Palaeochiropteryx tupaiodon) lying in close contact with its jaws. This suggests that these fishes probably died after failed swallowing attempts, with the bat wing membrane entangled in their jaws resulting in a fatal handicap. Based on data from modern gars and bowfins, A. messelensis and C. kehreri may have opportunistically attacked drowning and dying individuals or scavenged on floating/sinking carcasses. This hypothesis is also supported by the unusually high number of bat specimens preserved in the deposits of the Eocene Lake Messel, suggesting that this group of small mammals may have represented a substantial food source for generalist feeders. This is the earliest case of chiropterophagy and the first known evidence of bat consumption by lepisosteid and amiid fishes, emphasizing the high trophic variability and adaptability of these groups throughout their evolutionary histories. The newly described associations provide important information for reconstructing the Eocene Lake Messel palaeoecosystem and its trophic web.

The first record of amiid fishes (Halecomorphi, Amiiformes, Amiidae, Calamopleurini?) from Eastern Gondwana

The extant Amiiformes are represented by a single living freshwater genus Amia (bowfin) with recent phylogenomic analysis indicating the presence of multiple species. However, they have a more extensive fossil record first appearing in the Early Jurassic and are recorded as occurring on all continents, except Antarctica and Australia. Here, we describe fossil amiid fishes Calamopleurini? (Halecomorphi, Amiiformes) from the Cretaceous (Albian—Cenomanian) Griman Creek Formation, Lightning Ridge, New South Wales, Australia, representing the first record, extinct or extant, of the amiids in Australia. The material comprises jaw elements that have been replaced by opal. This new record from Australia adds to previously documented Cretaceous Western Gondwanan occurrences from South America and Africa and further supports a distinct southern “Gondwanan” fish population in the seas surrounding the fragmenting Gondwanan landmasses during the ‘mid’ — Late Cretaceous.

Stratigraphy and vertebrate fauna of the lower shale member of the Aguja Formation (lower Campanian) in West Texas

The lower shale member of the Aguja Formation is one of only a few terrestrial stratigraphic units of early Campanian age in North America. Apart from a prolific microfossil site that yielded the Lowerverse local fauna, the lower shale is sparsely fossiliferous, and very little is known about its larger vertebrate fauna. Most of the specimens collected thus far are fragmentary, but among these are a hybodontid shark, an amiid fish (Melvius sp.), and bothremydid, trionychid, nanhsiungchelyid (Basilemys sp.), and baenid (cf. Denazinemys sp.) turtles. An isolated osteoderm is referable to the alligatoroid crocodylian Deinosuchus sp. A partial skull and skeleton of a goniopholidid crocodyliform is the most complete specimen recovered thus far, and likely represents a new genus and species. The most abundant dinosaur in the fauna is a new genus and species of hadrosaur. A partial pelvis and metatarsus of an ornithomimid dinosaur also likely represents a new taxon. Indeterminate tyrannosaurid, dromaeosaurid, ceratopsid, and nodosaurid dinosaurs are represented. The lower Two Medicine Formation in Montana, lower Wahweap Formation in Utah, and Menefee Formation in New Mexico bear the only other terrestrial vertebrate faunas of broadly comparable age in North America. The Aguja lower shale fauna is allied with ‘southern’ faunas in New Mexico and Utah in sharing the amiid fish Melvius, the baenid turtle Denazinemys, bothremydid turtles, and goniopholidid crocodyliforms. These taxa are absent in para-contemporaneous faunas of Montana and Alberta. Non-marine strata of early Campanian age do not appear to be present farther south in Mexico, and so the lower Aguja fauna is significant in documenting latitudinal variation in early Campanian continental environments.

First record of eocene bony fishes and crocodyliforms from Canada's Western Arctic.

BackgroundDiscovery of Eocene non-marine vertebrates, including crocodylians, turtles, bony fishes, and mammals in Canada’s High Arctic was a critical paleontological contribution of the last century because it indicated that this region of the Arctic had been mild, temperate, and ice-free during the early – middle Eocene (∼53–50 Ma), despite being well above the Arctic Circle. To date, these discoveries have been restricted to Canada’s easternmost Arctic – Ellesmere and Axel Heiberg Islands (Nunavut). Although temporally correlative strata crop out over 1,000 km west, on Canada’s westernmost Arctic Island – Banks Island, Northwest Territories – they have been interpreted as predominantly marine. We document the first Eocene bony fish and crocodyliform fossils from Banks Island.Principal FindingsWe describe fossils of bony fishes, including lepisosteid (Atractosteus), esocid (pike), and amiid, and a crocodyliform, from lower – middle Eocene strata of the Cyclic Member, Eureka Sound Formation within Aulavik National Park (∼76°N. paleolat.). Palynology suggests the sediments are late early to middle Eocene in age, and likely spanned the Early Eocene Climatic Optimum (EECO).Conclusions/SignificanceThese fossils extend the geographic range of Eocene Arctic lepisosteids, esocids, amiids, and crocodyliforms west by approximately 40° of longitude or ∼1100 km. The low diversity bony fish fauna, at least at the family level, is essentially identical on Ellesmere and Banks Islands, suggesting a pan-High Arctic bony fish fauna of relatively basal groups around the margin of the Eocene Arctic Ocean. From a paleoclimatic perspective, presence of a crocodyliform, gar and amiid fishes on northern Banks provides further evidence that mild, year-round temperatures extended across the Canadian Arctic during early – middle Eocene time. Additionally, the Banks Island crocodyliform is consistent with the phylogenetic hypothesis of a Paleogene divergence time between the two extant alligatorid lineages Alligator mississippiensis and A. sinensis, and high-latitude dispersal across Beringia.

First fossil record of amiid fishes (Halecomorphi, Amiiformes, Amiidae) from the Late Cretaceous of Uberaba, Minas Gerais State, Brazil

Martinelli, A.G., Bogan, S., Agnolin, F.L., Ribeiro, L.C.B., Cavellani, C.L., Ferraz, M.L.F. & Teixeira, V.P.A., iFirst article. First fossil record of amiid fishes (Halecomorphi, Amiiformes, Amiidae) from the Late Cretaceous of Uberaba, Minas Gerais State, Brazil. Alcheringa, 1–9. ISSN 0311-5518. The first fossil amiid fishes (Halecomorphi, Amiiformes) from the Late Cretaceous Marília Formation (Bauru Group) at Uberaba County, Triângulo Mineiro region (Minas Gerais State, Brazil), are described. The material includes some partial maxillae, a dermopterotic, a cleithrum, several vertebral centra and teeth. Features such as the absence of a supramaxillary notch on the dorsal edge of the maxilla, a wide and deep pit on the maxilla for the articulation of the premaxilla, anterior portion of the maxilla with a sub-circular cross-section, teeth with acrodine cup with strong mesial and distal keels, among others, permit confident referral of the material to the Subfamily Vidalamiine (Amiidae), previously recognized in Lower Cretaceous strata of northeasthern Brazil. These specimens constitute the first Late Cretaceous record of this group in Brazil and one of the few in South America. Agustín G. Martinelli [agustín_martinelli@yahoo.com.ar], Centro de Pesquisas Paleontológicas Llewellyn Ivor Price, Complexo Cultural e Científico Peirópolis (CCCP/UFTM), BR-262, Km 784, Bairro Peirópolis, Uberaba, Minas Gerais, Brazil; Sergio Bogan [sergiobogan@yahoo.com.ar], Fundación de Historia Natural ‘Félix de Azara’, Departamento de Ciencias Naturales y Antropología, CEBBAD—Universidad Maimónides, Hidalgo 775 piso 7 (1405BDB), Buenos Aires, Argentina. Federico Agnolín* [fedeagnolin@yahoo.com.ar], Sección Paleontología de Vertebrados, Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales ‘Bernardino Rivadavia’, Av. Ángel Gallardo 470 (C1405BDB), Buenos Aires, Argentina. Luiz Carlos Borges Ribeiro [lcbrmg@terra.com.br], Camila Lourencini Cavellani [camila@patge.uftm.edu.br], Mara Lúcia da Fonseca Ferraz [mara@patge.uftm.edu.br] and Vicente de Paula Antunes Teixeira [vicente@patge.uftm.edu.br], Centro de Pesquisas Paleontológicas Llewellyn Ivor Price, Complexo Cultural e Científico Peirópolis (CCCP/UFTM), BR-262, Km 784, Bairro Peirópolis, Uberaba, Minas Gerais, Brazil. *Also affiliated with: Fundación de Historia Natural ‘Félix de Azara’, Departamento de Ciencias Naturales y Antropología, CEBBAD—Universidad Maimónides, Valentín Virasoro 732 (C1405BDB), Buenos Aires, Argentina. Received 15.4.2012; revised 11.6.2012; accepted 20.6.2012.

New amiid fish (Halecomorphi: Amiiformes) from the Lower Cretaceous Crato Formation, Araripe Basin, Northeast Brazil

ABSTRACT A new species of Amiidae, †Cratoamia gondwanica gen. et sp. nov., is here described from the Early Cretaceous Crato Formation of the Araripe Basin, northeast Brazil. The new species, based on complete and nearly complete articulated specimens, includes synapomorphies of the subfamily †Vidalamiinae and the tribe †Vidalamiini. The presence of †Cratoamia in Brazil increases the geographical distribution of the tribe †Vidalamiini into the Southern Hemisphere.

Bowfins and the Revenge of Comparative Biology

A Comprehensive Phylogenetic Study of Amiid Fishes (Amiidae) Based in Comparative Skeletal Anatomy . An Empirical Search for Interconnected Patterns of Natural History. Lance Grande and William E. Bemis. Society of Vertebrate Paleontology, Chicago, 1998. 700 pp. $75. ISSN 0272-4634. Memoir 4. A superbly illustrated, detailed, and data-rich comparative study of a once flourishing family of fish that is now reduced to a single species, the bowfin. Focused on skeletal anatomy, the monograph provides a model for carrying out phylogenetic analyses of morphological data.

An African twin to the BrazilianCalamopleurus(Actinopterygii: Amiidae)

A new species of amiid fish,Calamopleurus africanussp. nov., is described on the basis of fragmentary material from? Albian Kem Kem beds of southern Morocco. The new species shows several derived characters of the genusCalamopleurussuch as ossified dermopterotic ribs, an inferred loose association between the dermosphenotic and the skull roof, a gular plate with a scalloped posterior margin, and a hyomandibular with a very long posterior (opercular) process. It differs from the type species in the proportions of the frontals, supramaxilla and gular. The distribution ofCalamopleurusand some other Lower Cretaceous fishes is discussed in the context of the presumed adjacency of west Africa and eastern Brazil during much of the Mesozoic.

An African twin to the Brazilian Calamopleurus (Actinopterygii: Amiidae)

Abstract A new species of amiid fish, Calamopleurus africanus sp. nov., is described on the basis of fragmentary material from? Albian Kem Kem beds of southern Morocco. The new species shows several derived characters of the genus Calamopleurus such as ossified dermopterotic ribs, an inferred loose association between the dermosphenotic and the skull roof, a gular plate with a scalloped posterior margin, and a hyomandibular with a very long posterior (opercular) process. It differs from the type species in the proportions of the frontals, supramaxilla and gular. The distribution of Calamopleurus and some other Lower Cretaceous fishes is discussed in the context of the presumed adjacency of west Africa and eastern Brazil during much of the Mesozoic.

A Comprehensive Phylogenetic Study of Amiid Fishes (Amiidae) Based on Comparative Skeletal Anatomy. an Empirical Search for Interconnected Patterns of Natural History

ABSTRACT The comparative osteology, phylogenetic relationships, and historical biogeography of all known taxa of fossil and living amiid fishes (Halecomorphi: Amiidae) are investigated in detail. Previously, the detailed osteology of nearly all fossil amiids was unknown. We present the first well-supported comprehensive phylogeny for fossil and living amiid fishes. We synthesize clearly documented phylogenetic data on amiids and other halecomorph fishes with other historical phenomena such as ontogeny, historical biogeography, stratigraphic paleontology, and paleoecology (both “stationary” and “historical”). We also use our study of halecomorph fishes as a platform to explore several fundamental methodological and theoretical concepts important to phylogenetic/evolutionary investigations. These concepts pertain mainly to (1) the use of comparative empirical data to interpret various historical patterns and (2) the practice of integrating fossil and living species together in original (i.e., non-literature...

"Kindleia" fragosa Jordan and "Stylomyleodon" lacus Russell: two amiid fishes from the Late Cretaceous and the Paleocene of Alberta, Canada

Detailed study of the type specimens and of new materials collected in the upper Maastrichtian and Paleocene of Alberta, Canada, leads one to propose new diagnoses of "Kindleia" fragosa Jordan and "Stylomyleodon" lacus Russell, which are two different species of amiid fishes bearing styliform teeth on the vomers and coronoids. Comparison with some amiid fishes from the European Cenozoic shows that both species belong to the genus Cyclurus Agassiz, which was widely distributed in Europe from the Paleocene to the Oligocene.

An Eocene Amiid Fish from Mali, West Africa

An amiid fish of very large size (ca 3 m SL) from phosphates of probable early Eocene age in the Tilemsi Valley, Republic of Mali, is described as Maliamia gigas n. gen., n. sp. Maliamia is known only from isolated jaw bones (premaxilla, vomer, maxilla, dentary, dermopalatine, coronoid, prearticular), and is the first amiid to be described from Africa. It differs from other amiid genera in the vomerine and prearticular dentition, and so far as it and its relatives are known, is most closely related to Enneles from the early Cretaceous of Brazil.

A new Late Cretaceous (Campanian–Maastrichtian) amiid (Halecomorphi: Actinopterygii) from the Fruitland Formation, San Juan Basin, New Mexico

Amia? chauliodeia, a new amiid fish from the Late Cretaceous Fruitland Formation of the San Juan Basin, New Mexico, is described from material that includes vertebral centra, elements of the mandibular arch, dermal skull roof, palatal complex, hyoid arch, pectoral girdle, branchial apparatus, ribs, and both pelvic basipterygia. The new form differs from previously described amiiforms in the length of the dentary tooth row, in the anterior thickness of the dentary, and in the apparent lack of internal sensory canals in the dentary and angular. The New Mexico amiid also retains a primitive metapterygoid. Although the new form shares several features in common with the Late Cretaceous amiid Melvius thomasi described by Bryant (1987), it is unquestionably distinct from this form. Material from the Fruitland and Kirtland Formations of New Mexico referred by Bryant (1987) to M. thomasi is now included within Amia? chauliodeia.

Paramiatus gurleyi, a deep-bodied amiid fish from the Eocene of Wyoming

Paramiatus gurleyi, a deep-bodied amiid fish from the Eocene of Wyoming