''Aetheolepis'' 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 of

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 ...

which lived in freshwater environments in what is now

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

and

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

during the

Jurassic The Jurassic ( ) is a Geological period, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately 143.1 Mya. ...

period. It contains one species, ''A. mirabilis''. ''Aetheolepis'' was previously thought to be an archaeomaenid, until a 2016 study instead recovered it as a member of the family Dapediidae. Like other dapediids, it had a deep, discoid-shaped body. Fossils of ''A. mirabilis'' have been found in the

Talbragar River Talbragar River, a perennial stream that is part of the Macquarie catchment within the Murray–Darling basin, is located in the Orana district of New South Wales, Australia. The river rises on the western side of the Liverpool Range on the so ...

fossil beds of New South Wales and the

Colalura Sandstone The Colalura Sandstone is a Middle Jurassic geologic Formation (geology), formation of the Perth Basin of Western Australia. The formation overlies the Moonyoonooka Sandstone. Dinosaur remains have been recovered from the formation. Vertebra ...

of Western Australia. It was named by

Arthur Smith Woodward Sir Arthur Smith Woodward, FRS (23 May 1864 – 2 September 1944) was an English palaeontologist, known as a world expert in fossil fish. He also described the Piltdown Man fossils, which were later determined to be fraudulent. He is not rel ...

in 1865 along with other Talbragar fish.

References

Dapediidae Middle Jurassic bony fish Jurassic fish of Australia Monotypic prehistoric ray-finned fish genera Fossil taxa described in 1895 Taxa named by Arthur Smith Woodward {{Jurassic-fish-stub

See also

References