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The Question of a Presupracleithrum in Brachiopterygian Fishes
Author(s) -
Bjerring Hans C.
Publication year - 1985
Publication title -
acta zoologica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.414
H-Index - 37
eISSN - 1463-6395
pISSN - 0001-7272
DOI - 10.1111/j.1463-6395.1985.tb00835.x
Subject(s) - biology , cladistics , actinopterygii , crania , paleozoic , pectoral girdle , zoology , evolutionary biology , fish <actinopterygii> , paleontology , anatomy , fishery , phylogenetics , genetics , gene
The presupracleithrum is an exoskeletal pectoral bone that occurs in Paleozoic and Mesozoic actinopterygian fishes. It has been equated more than once with an opercular element in brachiopterygian fishes. In recent cladistic analyses, this alleged homology is used to assign brachiopterygians to actinopterygians. However, a comparison of brachiopterygian and actinopterygian crania shows clearly that the former lack a presupracleithrum.