''Dapalis'' is an extinct genus of prehistoric glassfish known from the Late Cretaceous to the Early Miocene. It is known from both freshwater and marine habitats of India, Australia, New Zealand, and much of mainland Europe. It is one of the oldest glassfishes known in the fossil record, and is thought to be a stem group member of the

Ambassidae The Asiatic glassfishes are a family, the Ambassidae, of freshwater and marine fishes that were formerly classified in the order Perciformes, but most authorities consider this order to be paraphyletic and that the Ambassidae are of uncertain a ...

as it appears to predate the most recent common ancestor of modern glassfish, which likely evolved in the early

Cenozoic The Cenozoic ( ; ) is Earth's current geological era, representing the last 66million years of Earth's history. It is characterised by the dominance of mammals, birds and flowering plants, a cooling and drying climate, and the current configura ...

in freshwater habitats of Australia. Fossils are abundant throughout Europe, especially during the late

Paleogene The Paleogene ( ; British English, also spelled Palaeogene or Palæogene; informally Lower Tertiary or Early Tertiary) is a geologic period, geologic period and system that spans 43 million years from the end of the Cretaceous Period million yea ...

and early

Neogene The Neogene ( ), informally Upper Tertiary or Late Tertiary, is a geologic period and system that spans 20.45 million years from the end of the Paleogene Period million years ago ( Mya) to the beginning of the present Quaternary Period Mya. ...

, in the form of both body fossils and otoliths.

Species

The following species are known from both body fossils & otoliths. Most were initially classified in the preoccupied genus ''Smerdis'': *''D. aduncus'' ( Heckel, 1854) - Early Miocene of Italy ossil specimenref name=":3"> *''D. analis'' (Heckel, 1854) - Early Miocene of Italy ossil specimenref name=":3" /> *''D. angustus'' &

Weidmann Weidmann is a German surname meaning "hunter". Notable people with the surname include: *Eugen Weidmann (1908–1939), German convict who was the last to be publicly executed in France * Jens Weidmann (born 1968), president of Deutsche Bundesbank * ...

1992 - Early

Oligocene The Oligocene ( ) is a geologic epoch of the Paleogene Period and extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present ( to ). As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that define the epoch are well identified but the ...

of France, Switzerland & Romania toliths*''D. antipodes'' 1980 - early-middle Eocene ( Ypresian/ Lutetian) of New Zealand toliths*''D. bartensteini'' 1978 - Early Miocene ( Aquitanian) of Germany toliths*''D. borkensis'' (Weiler, 1961) - Early Oligocene of Germany tolithref name=":7"> *''D. cappadocensi''

Menzel Menzel may refer to: __TOC__ People Menzel is a surname of German language , German origin. It can also be a transliteration of the Yiddish surname " מענטזעל "- a variant of the German surname. * Adolph Menzel (1815–1905), German artist * C ...

& Becker-Platen 1981 - Early Miocene (Aquitanian/ Burdigalian) of Turkey toliths*''D. carinatus'' Stinton &

Kissling Kissling is a German language surname. it may refer to: *Frances Kissling (born 1943), American religious leader *George Kissling (1805–1865), New Zealand religious leader * Grace E. Kissling, American biostatistician * Jorge Kissling (1940–196 ...

1968 - Late Oligocene/Early Miocene (

Chattian The Chattian is, in the geologic timescale, the younger of two ages or upper of two stages of the Oligocene Epoch/Series. It spans the time between . The Chattian is preceded by the Rupelian and is followed by the Aquitanian (the lowest stage ...

/Aquitanian) of France & Germany toliths*''D. crassirostris'' (Rzehak, 1893) - Burdigalian of Germany tolithref name=":6"> *''D. curvirostris'' (Rzehak 1893) - Burdigalian of Germany & the Czech Republic tolith*''D. distortus'' Nolf, 2003 - Late Cretaceous ( Santonian) of Spain toliths*''D. elongatus'' ( von Meyer, 1851) - Early Miocene of Germany ossil specimenref name=":3" /> *''D. erici'' Nolf, Rana & Prasad, 2008 - Late Cretaceous ( Maastrichtian) of India (

Intertrappean Beds The Intertrappean Beds are a Late Cretaceous geologic formation in India. The beds are found as interbeds between Deccan Traps layers. Indeterminate theropod and pterosaur remains have been recovered from the formation, as well as dinosaur e ...

) tolithsref name=":0"> *''D. formosus'' (von Meyer, 1848) - early Miocene of Switzerland, Germany, and possibly the Czech Republic ossil specimens, otolithsref name=":3" /> *''D. heersensis'' (

Winkler Winkler may refer to: * Winkler (surname), people with the surname ''Winkler'' or ''Winckler'' * Winkler scale, also known as the heat summation scale for classifying climates * Winkler (crater), a crater on the Moon * 6473 Winkler, an asteroid * ...

, 1869) - Early Eocene of Belgium ossil fragmentsref name=":3" /> *''D. hungaricus'' (Schubert, 1912) - Middle Eocene (Lutetian) of Hungary tolithref name=":5" /> *''D. kaelini'' Reichenbacher, 1993 - Early Miocene of Germany tolithref name=":6" /> *''D. latior'' (Agassiz ''ex'' Oken, 1836) - origin unknown ndeterminate fossil specimen*'' D. macrurus'' (Agassiz ''ex'' Oken 1835) - late Oligocene of France (

Alpes-de-Haute-Provence Alpes-de-Haute-Provence or sometimes abbreviated as AHP (; oc, Aups d'Auta Provença; ) is a department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of France, bordering Alpes-Maritimes and Italy to the east, Var to the south, Vaucluse to the west ...

) & Bulgaria ossil specimens, otolithsref name=":3" /> *''D. minutus'' ( de Blainville, 1818) - late

of France (

Aix-en-Provence Aix-en-Provence (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Ais de Provença in classical norm, or in Mistralian norm, ; la, Aquae Sextiae), or simply Aix ( medieval Occitan: ''Aics''), is a city and commune in southern France, about north of Marseille. ...

) ( type species) ossil specimens, otolithsref name=":3" /> *''D. pauciserratus'' Ahnelt, Bradić-Milinović & Schwarzhans, 2024 - early Oligocene of Serbia ossil specimen, otolithsref name=":2"> *''D. rhenanus'' (Koken, 1891) - early Miocene of Germany tolith*''D. rhoensis'' (Winkler, 1880) - early Miocene of Germany ossil specimenref name=":3" /> *''D. rhomboidalis'' Stinton & Kissling 1968 - middle Oligocene of Germany tolithref name=":8" /> *''D. sandbergeri'' (Winkler, 1880) - middle Oligocene of Germany ossil specimenref name=":3" /> *''D. sauvagei'' ( Brongniart, 1880) - early Miocene of France (possibly synonymous with ''D. aduncus'') ossil specimenref name=":3" /> *''D. taramellii'' (

Bassani Bassani is an Italian surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Axel Bassani (born 1999), Italian motorcycle racer * Bilgé Ögün Bassani, Chief Executive Officer of the Association François-Xavier Bagnoud (FXB International) * Edvin Li ...

, 1889) - early Miocene of Italy ossil specimenref name=":3" /> *''D. transylvanicus'' Reichenbacher & Codrea, 1999 - Early Oligocene of Romania tolithsref name=":7" /> *''D. ventralis'' (Agassiz, 1836) - Late Eocene of France ( Montmartre) ossil specimenref name=":3" /> *''D. ventricosus'' Nolf & Reichenbacher, 1999 - Middle Eocene (Lutetian/Bartonian) of Italy tolithref name=":5" /> Indeterminate otoliths are known from the Late Paleocene of Australia. The former otolith-based species ''D. bhatiai'' and ''D. buffetauti'' from the Maastrichtian of India are now synonymized with one another and are thought to belong to the genus '' Anthracoperca''. The species ''D. budensis'' is now placed in the percoid genus '' Oligoserranoides''. Former species ''D. sandbergeri'', ''D. rhoensis'', and ''D. sieblosensis'' are now synonymized with one another and placed in the genus ''

Dapaloides ''Dapaloides'' is an extinct genus of prehistoric estuarine ray-finned fish that lived during the early Oligocene to the early Miocene epoch. Many of the remains now assigned to this genus were previously assigned to '' Dapalis''. It was previo ...

''. Specimens of the former species ''Smerdis indica'' from

Monte Bolca Monte Bolca is a lagerstätte near Verona, Italy that was one of the first fossil sites with high quality preservation known to Europeans, and is still an important source of fossils from the Eocene. Geology Monte Bolca was uplifted from the T ...

, Italy are now known to be of the percoid fish '' Cyclopoma''.

Distribution

''Dapalis'' is the second most common fossil fish of the Aix-en-Provence lagerstatte in France, where large numbers of articulated specimens are known. A specific site dating to the latest Oligocene has extremely abundant fossils of an indeterminate ''Dapalis'' species that replaces the ''D. minutus'' of slightly earlier sites in the same region. A roadcut near

Avignon Avignon (, ; ; oc, Avinhon, label=Provençal dialect, Provençal or , ; la, Avenio) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Vaucluse Departments of France, department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region of So ...

has another exposure of the Aix-en-Provence formation, with extremely abundant ''D. minutus'' and another undescribed species, to the extent that a nearby blind alley is nicknamed the “Impasse des Dapalis”. Some fossil otoliths of ''Dapalis'' are abundant enough to be regional index fossils, with ''Dapalis formosus'', an abundant species of the western

Paratethys Sea The Paratethys sea, Paratethys ocean, Paratethys realm or just Paratethys was a large shallow inland sea that stretched from the region north of the Alps over Central Europe to the Aral Sea in Central Asia. Paratethys was peculiar due to its pal ...

, indicating the regional Ottnangian stage of the Miocene for example.

References

Bony fish in the online Sepkoski Database The Paleobiology Database
Ambassidae Prehistoric ray-finned fish genera Late Cretaceous bony fish Cretaceous fish of Europe Paleogene fish of Europe Neogene fish of Europe Late Cretaceous fish of Asia Neogene fish of Asia Santonian genus first appearances Maastrichtian genera Thanetian genera Ypresian genera Lutetian genera Rupelian genera Chattian genera Aquitanian genera Burdigalian genus extinctions Fossils of Spain Fossils of France Fossils of Belgium Fossils of Germany Fossils of Switzerland Fossils of Italy Fossils of the Czech Republic Fossils of Serbia Fossils of Romania Fossils of Hungary Fossils of Bulgaria Fossils of Turkey Fossils of India Paleogene animals of Australia Fossils of New Zealand Taxa named by Johannes von Nepomuk Franz Xaver Gistel Fossil taxa described in 1848 {{serranidae-stub

Species

Distribution

See also

References