''Avitoluvarus'' ("ancient louvar") is a

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 extinct louvar that lived in the Peri-

Tethys Sea The Tethys Ocean ( ; ), also called the Tethys Sea or the Neo-Tethys, was a prehistoric ocean during much of the Mesozoic Era and early-mid Cenozoic Era. It was the predecessor to the modern Indian Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea, and the Eurasia ...

during the early

Paleogene The Paleogene Period ( ; also spelled Palaeogene or Palæogene) is a geologic period and system that spans 43 million years from the end of the Cretaceous Period Ma (million years ago) to the beginning of the Neogene Period Ma. It is the fir ...

. The first specimens were found from the

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 ...

Lagerstätten, of the

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 ...

age of

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 ...

, where they were originally thought to be smaller or juvenile individuals of the true louvar, '' Luvarus necopinatus''. These specimens were later reexamined, and determined to be a separate genus comprising two species. A third species, ''A. eocaenicus'' is known from the

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

of the Kumsky Horizon, in what is now the Northern

Caucasus Mountains The Caucasus Mountains * * Azerbaijani: , * * * * * * * * * * * is a mountain range at the intersection of Asia and Europe. Stretching between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, they are surrounded by the Caucasus region ...

in Southwestern

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. Indeterminate remains are also known from the Ypresian Gerpegezh locality in Russia. The following species are known: * ''A. dianae'' Bannikov & Tyler, 1995 - Ypresian of Turkmenistan * ''A. eocaenicus'' Bannikov & Tyler, 2001 - Bartonian of Russia * ''A. marianae'' Bannikov & Tyler, 1995 - Ypresian of Turkmenistan ''Avitoluvarus'' differs from modern louvars in that the former's forehead does not bulge out as much, giving the appearance of having the face appear higher.

References

Luvaridae Ypresian genus first appearances Bartonian genus extinctions Eocene fish of Asia Prehistoric percomorph genera Fossils of Turkmenistan Fossils of Russia Fossil taxa described in 1995 {{acanthuroidei-stub