''Ardoreosomus'' (meaning: "

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the equator, where the sun may shine directly overhead. This contrasts with the temperate or polar regions of Earth, where the Sun can never be directly overhead. This is because of Earth's ax ...

body") 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 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 ...

. It was described from the

Induan The Induan is the first age of the Early Triassic epoch in the geologic timescale, or the lowest stage of the Lower Triassic series in chronostratigraphy. It spans the time between 251.9 Ma and 249.9 Ma (million years ago). The Induan is so ...

aged Candelaria Formation of

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, which was located near the

equator The equator is the circle of latitude that divides Earth into the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Southern Hemisphere, Southern Hemispheres of Earth, hemispheres. It is an imaginary line located at 0 degrees latitude, about in circumferen ...

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 ...

. It contains only one species, ''A. occidentalis'' (

monotypy In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispe ...

). ''Ardoreosomus'' is a ptycholepiform, closely resembling ''

Boreosomus ''Boreosomus'' (meaning: " boreal body") is an extinct genus of Triassic marine ray-finned fish. It was first described from the Arctic island of Spitsbergen (Svalbard, Norway), hence its genus name, but was later also discovered in other parts ...

'' and '' Ptycholepis''; however, ''Ardoreosomus'' is distinguished from other ptycholepiforms in having a more strongly angled

hyomandibula The hyomandibula, commonly referred to as hyomandibular one(, from , "upsilon-shaped" (υ), and Latin: mandibula, "jawbone"), is a set of bones that is found in the hyoid region in most fishes. It usually plays a role in suspending the jaws ...

and lacking an opercular process, among other features.

References

Monotypic prehistoric ray-finned fish genera Triassic fish of North America Fossils of Nevada Early Triassic fish Early Triassic animals of North America Induan life Fossil taxa described in 2019 {{Triassic-fish-stub

See also

References