A fossil unicorn crestfish (Teleostei, Lampridiformes, Lophotidae) from the Eocene of Iran

PeerJ

article

Donald Davesne¹ 

[1] Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford

关键词: Eocene;    Iran;    Teleostei;    Acanthomorpha;    Lampridiformes;    Taeniosomi;    Lophotidae;    Taxonomy;    Fossil record;   

DOI  :  10.7717/peerj.3381

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Inra

【 摘 要 】

Lophotidae, or crestfishes, is a family of rare deep-sea teleosts characterised by an enlarged horn-like crest on the forehead. They are poorly represented in the fossil record, by only three described taxa. One specimen attributed to Lophotidae has been described from the pelagic fauna of the middle-late Eocene Zagros Basin, Iran. Originally considered as a specimen of the fossil lophotid †Protolophotus, it is proposed hereby as a new genus and species †Babelichthys olneyi, gen. et sp. nov., differs from the other fossil lophotids by its relatively long and strongly projecting crest, suggesting a close relationship with the modern unicorn crestfish, Eumecichthys. This new taxon increases the diversity of the deep-sea teleost fauna to which it belongs, improving our understanding of the taxonomic composition of the early Cenozoic mesopelagic ecosystems.

【 授权许可】

CC BY