''Danatinia'' is an extinct

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

of lamprid fish from the

Eocene The Eocene ( ) is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (Ma). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), Era. The name ''Eocene'' comes ...

. It contains a single species, ''D. casca'' from

Danata Formation The Danata Formation (or Danatinskaya, Danatinsk, Russian: Danata Svita) is an Ypresian, earliest Eocene to Middle Eocene sedimentary succession located in Turkmenistan. It is mostly famous for its fish-bearing horizons (Ichthyofauna). The formati ...

Lagerstatten, of the earliest

Ypresian In the geologic timescale the Ypresian is the oldest age (geology), age or lowest stage (stratigraphy), stratigraphic stage of the Eocene. It spans the time between , is preceded by the Thanetian Age (part of the Paleocene) and is followed by th ...

Turkmenistan Turkmenistan is a landlocked country in Central Asia bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the south and southwest and the Caspian Sea to the west. Ash ...

. It was first named by Daniltshenko in 1968. ''D. casca'' was

sympatric In biology, two closely related species or populations are considered sympatric when they exist in the same geographic area and thus frequently encounter each other. An initially interbreeding population that splits into two or more distinct spe ...

with its close relative, '' Turkmene''. In life, it would have resembled a very small

opah The opah, also commonly known as moonfish, sunfish (not to be confused with Molidae), cowfish, kingfish, and redfin ocean pan are large, colorful, deep-bodied Pelagic zone, pelagic lampriform Fish, fishes comprising the genus ''Lampris'', of ...

External links

''Danatania''
at the

Paleobiology Database The Paleobiology Database (PBDB) is an online resource for information on the distribution and classification of fossil animals, plants, and microorganisms. History The Paleobiology Database originated in the NCEAS-funded Phanerozoic Marine Pale ...

* ''The first fossil ribbonfish (Teleostei, Lampridiformes, Trachipteridae)'' by Giorgio Carnevale, Istituto di Geoscienze e Georisorse,

Pisa, Italy Pisa ( ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Tuscany, Central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for the Leaning Tow ...

. * Turkmenidae Prehistoric ray-finned fish genera Eocene fish of Asia Ypresian genera Fossils of Turkmenistan Fossil taxa described in 1968 {{Lampriformes-stub