Ceratodontidae 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 ...

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

lungfish Lungfish are freshwater vertebrates belonging to the class Dipnoi. Lungfish are best known for retaining ancestral characteristics within the Osteichthyes, including the ability to breathe air, and ancestral structures within Sarcopterygii, inc ...

with fossils known worldwide from the earliest

Triassic The Triassic ( ; sometimes symbolized 🝈) is a geologic period and system which spans 50.5 million years from the end of the Permian Period 251.902 million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Jurassic Period 201.4 Mya. The Triassic is t ...

to 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 ...

Taxonomy

Although the extant

Queensland lungfish The Australian lungfish (''Neoceratodus forsteri''), also known as the Queensland lungfish, Burnett salmon and barramunda, is the only surviving member of the family Neoceratodontidae. It is one of only six extant lungfish species in the world. ...

was formerly also classified in this family due to its similar appearance, phylogenetic and morphological evidence indicates that it belongs in a different family,

Neoceratodontidae Neoceratodontidae is a Family (biology), family of lungfish containing ''Neoceratodus'' (represented by the extant Australian lungfish) and the extinct ''Mioceratodus''. It, South American lungfish, Lepidosirenidae, and Protopterus, Protopteridae ...

. A morphological study by Kemp ''et al'' (2017) proposed that Ceratodontidae was more closely related to modern African (Protopteridae) and

South American lungfish The South American lungfish (''Lepidosiren paradoxa''), also known as the American mud-fish and scaly salamanderfish, is the single species of lungfish found in swamps and slow-moving waters of the Amazon Basin, Amazon, Paraguay River, Paraguay, ...

(Leptosirenidae) than Queensland lungfish. However, Brownstein, Harrington & Near (2023) found Ceratodontidae to lie outside the

crown group In phylogenetics, the crown group or crown assemblage is a collection of species composed of the living representatives of the collection, the most recent common ancestor of the collection, and all descendants of the most recent common ancestor ...

of modern lungfish, with all modern lungfish more closely related to each other than to Ceratodontidae.

Genera

The following genera are known from the family: * †''

Arganodus ''Arganodus'' is an extinct genus of freshwater lungfish that had a wide global distribution throughout much of the Triassic period, with a single species surviving across Gondwana into the Cretaceous. It is the only member of the family Argano ...

'' (alternatively placed in own family, Arganodontidae) * †'' Ariguna'' * †'' Ceratodus'' * †'' Epiceratodus'' * †'' Lupaceratodus'' Galula Formation, Tanzania, Cretaceous * †''

Metaceratodus ''Metaceratodus'' is an extinction, extinct genus of prehistoric lungfish in the family Ceratodontidae, with an indeterminate specimen known from the Late Triassic (Norian)-aged Lissauer Breccia of Poland and more complete specimens known from t ...

'' * †''

Microceratodus ''Microceratodus'' is an extinct genus of prehistoric sarcopterygians or lobe-finned fish. See also * Sarcopterygii * List of sarcopterygians * List of prehistoric bony fish This list of prehistoric bony fish is an attempt to create a compr ...

'' (?) * †''

Potamoceratodus ''Potamoceratodus'' is an extinct genus of lungfish belonging to the family Ceratodontidae known from the Late Jurassic Morrison Formation of Colorado, USA. It was first named by Jason D. Pardo, Adam K. Huttenlocker, Bryan J. Small and Mark A. ...

'' * †'' Tellerodus'' * †'' Retodus'' ''

Paraceratodus ''Paraceratodus'' is an extinct genus of prehistoric lungfish. Only one species, ''P. germaini'', is known from the latest Permian or earliest Triassic period of Madagascar. Phylogenetic evidence supports it being the most basal member of the su ...

'' was also classified in this family but phylogenetic evidence supports it being the most basal member of

Ceratodontoidei Ceratodontiformes is the only extant order of lungfish, containing the families Neoceratodontidae, Lepidosirenidae, and Protopteridae as well as many other extinct groups. Members of this group are the only lungfish known to have survived the ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3544436 Prehistoric lungfish Taxa named by Theodore Gill †