''Helichthys'' is an
extinct
Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...
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 prehistoric
bony fish
Osteichthyes ( ; ), also known as osteichthyans or commonly referred to as the bony fish, is a Biodiversity, diverse clade of vertebrate animals that have endoskeletons primarily composed of bone tissue. They can be contrasted with the Chondricht ...
that lived during the
Early Triassic
The Early Triassic is the first of three epochs of the Triassic Period of the geologic timescale. It spans the time between 251.9 Ma and Ma (million years ago). Rocks from this epoch are collectively known as the Lower Triassic Series, which ...
epoch
In chronology and periodization, an epoch or reference epoch is an instant in time chosen as the origin of a particular calendar era. The "epoch" serves as a reference point from which time is measured.
The moment of epoch is usually decided b ...
in what is now South Africa.
Although several species of ''Helichthys'' have been erected (''H. elegans'', ''H. stegopyge'', ''H. obesus'', ''H. ctenipteryx'', ''H. grandipennis''), they were later all synonymized with the
type species
In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...
, ''H. browni''.
Fossils were recovered from the
Lower ''Cynognathus'' Assemblage Zone of Bekker's Kraal.
Synonyms
*''Helichthys draperi''
( Woodward, 1893) → ''
Dicellopyge draperi''
(Woodward, 1893)
*''Helichthys tenuis''
Broom, 1909 → ''Dicellopyge tenuis''
(Broom, 1909)
See also
*
Prehistoric fish
__NOTOC__
Prehistoric fish are early fish that are known only from fossil records. They are the earliest known vertebrates, and include the first and extinct fish that lived through the Cambrian to the Quaternary. The study of prehistoric fish is ...
*
List of prehistoric bony fish
This list of prehistoric bony fish is an attempt to create a comprehensive listing of all Genus, genera from the fossil record that have ever been considered to be bony fish (class Osteichthyes), excluding purely vernacular terms. The list includ ...
References
Redfieldiiformes
Early Triassic fish
Triassic South Africa
Fossils of South Africa
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