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Prehistoric fish are early fish that are known only from

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserve ...

records. They are the earliest known

vertebrate Vertebrates () are animals with a vertebral column (backbone or spine), and a cranium, or skull. The vertebral column surrounds and protects the spinal cord, while the cranium protects the brain. The vertebrates make up the subphylum Vertebra ...

s, and include the first and extinct fish that lived through the

Cambrian The Cambrian ( ) is the first geological period of the Paleozoic Era, and the Phanerozoic Eon. The Cambrian lasted 51.95 million years from the end of the preceding Ediacaran period 538.8 Ma (million years ago) to the beginning of the Ordov ...

to the

Quaternary The Quaternary ( ) is the current and most recent of the three periods of the Cenozoic Era in the geologic time scale of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS), as well as the current and most recent of the twelve periods of the ...

. The study of prehistoric fish is called ''paleoichthyology''. A few living forms, such as the

coelacanth Coelacanths ( ) are an ancient group of lobe-finned fish (Sarcopterygii) in the class Actinistia. As sarcopterygians, they are more closely related to lungfish and tetrapods (the terrestrial vertebrates including living amphibians, reptiles, bi ...

are also referred to as prehistoric fish, or even

living fossil A living fossil is a Deprecation, deprecated term for an extant taxon that phenotypically resembles related species known only from the fossil record. To be considered a living fossil, the fossil species must be old relative to the time of or ...

s, due to their current rarity and similarity to extinct forms. Fish which have become recently

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 ...

are not usually referred to as prehistoric fish. Lists of various prehistoric fishes include: *

List of prehistoric jawless fish This list of prehistoric jawless fish is an attempt to create a comprehensive listing of all Genus, genera from the fossil record that have ever been considered to be jawless fish, excluding purely vernacular terms. The list includes all commonly ...

List of placoderms This list of placoderms is an attempt to create a comprehensive listing of all Genus, genera from the Fossil, fossil record that have ever been considered to be members of the Class (biology), class Placodermi. This list excludes purely vernacula ...

List of acanthodians This list of acanthodian genera is an attempt to create a comprehensive listing of all Genus, genera that have ever been included in the subclass Acanthodii, excluding purely vernacular terms. The list includes all commonly accepted genera, but a ...

List of prehistoric cartilaginous fish This list of prehistoric cartilaginous fish genera is an attempt to create a comprehensive listing of all Genus, genera that have ever been included in the class chondrichthyes ''and'' are known from the fossil record. This list excludes purely v ...

List of prehistoric bony fish This list of prehistoric bony fish is an attempt to create a comprehensive listing of all Genus, genera from the fossil record that have ever been considered to be bony fish (class Osteichthyes), excluding purely vernacular terms. The list includ ...

List of sarcopterygians This list of lobe-finned fish is a comprehensive listing of all Genus, genera that have ever been included in the class Sarcopterygii, excluding purely vernacular terms and tetrapods. The list includes all commonly accepted genera, but also genera ...

References

External links

Fossil Fish
{{DEFAULTSORT:fish, prehistoric Paleontology lists

See also

References

Further reading

External links