''Eoluvarus'' ("dawn ''

Luvarus ''Luvarus'' is a genus of ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Luvaridae. It is the only extant genus in that family and its only extant species is the cosmopolitan louvar (''Luvarus imperialis''), with one fossil species ('' L. necopinatus'' ...

''") is an extinct genus of marine

ray-finned fish Actinopterygii (; ), members of which are known as ray-finned fish or actinopterygians, is a class of bony fish that comprise over 50% of living vertebrate species. They are so called because of their lightly built fins made of webbings of sk ...

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 ...

of India. It contains a single species, ''E. bondei'' from the late

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 ...

-aged

fuller's earth Fuller's earth is a term for various clays used as an absorbent, filter, or bleaching agent. Products labeled fuller's earth typically consist of palygorskite (also known as attapulgite) or bentonite. Primary modern uses include as absorbents ...

deposits in the Kapurdi Formation of the

Barmer District Barmer District is a district in Rajasthan state of India. It is located in the western part of Rajasthan state forming a part of the Thar Desert. Barmer was the third largest district by area in Rajasthan and fifth largest district in India, o ...

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; Literal translation, lit. 'Land of Kings') is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the List of states and union territories of ...

. As its name suggests, it was initially considered an early

louvar The louvar or luvar (''Luvarus imperialis'') is a species of marine ray-finned fish, it is the only extant species in the genus ''Luvarus'' and family Luvaridae. This taxon is classified within the suborder Acanthuroidei, which includes the surg ...

. Later, more comprehensive specimens were found from the same locality, and ''E. bondei'' was reappraised as being a relative of ''

Exellia ''Exellia'' is a genus of extinct marine ray-finned fish that inhabited the northern Tethys Ocean during the early Eocene. It is notable for its large, highly conspicuous dorsal fin. Taxonomy It contains the following species: * ''E. proxima' ...

'', an unusual genus of

spadefish Ephippidae is a family of percomorph fishes, the spadefishes, in the order Moroniformes. These fishes are found in the tropical and temperate oceans of the world, except for the central Pacific. Taxonomy Ephippidae was first proposed as a famil ...

-like

percomorph Percomorpha () is an extremely large and diverse clade of ray-finned fish. With more than 17,000 known species (including Scombroidei, tuna, Syngnathiformes, seahorses, gobies, Cichlidae, cichlids, flatfish, Labridae, wrasse, Perciformes, perches ...

known from Italy and Turkmenistan, and thus also a member of the family Exelliidae.

References

Exelliids {{Ephippidae-stub Monotypic prehistoric ray-finned fish genera Prehistoric percomorph genera Eocene fish of Asia Ypresian genera Fossils of India Fossil taxa described in 1977