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Diversification in Polypteriformes and Special Comparison With the Lepisosteiformes
Author(s) -
Gayet M.,
Meunier F. J.,
Werner C.
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
palaeontology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.69
H-Index - 63
eISSN - 1475-4983
pISSN - 0031-0239
DOI - 10.1111/1475-4983.00241
Subject(s) - diversification (marketing strategy) , gondwana , paleontology , paleozoic , origination , taxon , extant taxon , cenomanian , fossil record , clade , geology , ecology , geography , cretaceous , biology , evolutionary biology , phylogenetics , computer network , biochemistry , marketing , structural basin , computer science , gene , business
Polypteriformes (or Cladistia) and Lepisosteiformes (or Ginglymodi) are two groups of freshwater fishes with ganoid scales. The earliest fossil records of these taxa are Albian (Lepisosteiformes) and Cenomanian (Polypteriformes) respectively in Gondwana; they are still extant. The ‘first’ appearance of the two groups in the fossil record (explosive in polypteriforms, gradual in lepisosteiforms) as well as their evolutionary mode (diversification/disparity or replacement) is described in detail. The lepisosteiforms appear to show a rapid radiation of post‐Palaeozoic clades immediately upon origination, while the polypteriforms represent a counter‐example with their sudden diversification and their sudden acquisition of several ‘key innovations’.