Fukangichthys longidorsalis (Su 1978, Xu et al. 2014; Giles et al. 2018; Middle Triassic; 230mya) nests as a deeper-bodied sister to Beishanichthys in the LRT. The purported quadratojugal is the bottom portion of the preopercular after taphonomic bending and cracking. Note the tiny pelvic fin. The tip of the round rostrum was lost during collection and restored here. The large (tan) lacrimal continues to be the anchor for the slender maxilla.
Beishanichthys breviacaualis (Xu and Gao 2011; Early Triassic) is a genus of scanilepiform fish nesting with Fukangichthys in the LRT at the base of the ray-fin fish. In some studies this clade is considered the most primitive basal bony fish. Here it nests between Fukangichthys andAmia, the extant bowfin.
Scanilepis dubius (Lehman 1979, Late Traissic, 1.6m long) is a much larger relative of Beishanichthy and the living bowfin, Amia. Note the long dorsal fin and short rostrum.
Giles S, Xu G-H, Near TJ; Friedman M 2017. Early members of 'living fossil' lineage imply later origin of modern ray-finned fishes. Nature. 549 (7671): 265–268.
Lehman JP 1979. Le genre Scanilepis Aldinger du Rhétien de la Scanie. Bulletin of the Geological Institutio n of the University of Uppsala, N.S 8:113-125.
Su T 1978. Memoirs Inst. Vert. Paleont. Paleoanthrop. Peking No. 13
Xu G-H and Gao K-Q 2011. A new scanilepiform from the Lower Triassic of northern Gansu Province, China, and phylogenetic relationships of non-teleostean Actinopterygii PDF. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 161 (3): 595–612.
Xu G-H, Gao K-Q and Finarell JA 2014. A revision of the Middle Triassic scanilepiform fish Fukangichthys longidorsalis from Xinjiang, China, with comments on the phylogeny of the Actinopteri. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 34(4):747–759.
