Macrosemiidae is an extinct family of

ginglymodi Ginglymodi is a clade of ray-finned fish containing modern-day gars (Lepisosteidae) and their extinct relatives (including the family (biology), family Lepidotidae) in the Order (biology), order Lepisosteiformes, the extinct orders Semionotiforme ...

an fish. The family first appeared during the

Middle Triassic In the geologic timescale, the Middle Triassic is the second of three epoch (geology), epochs of the Triassic period (geology), period or the middle of three series (stratigraphy), series in which the Triassic system (stratigraphy), system is di ...

and disappeared during the

Late Cretaceous The Late Cretaceous (100.5–66 Ma) is the more recent of two epochs into which the Cretaceous Period is divided in the geologic time scale. Rock strata from this epoch form the Upper Cretaceous Series. The Cretaceous is named after ''cre ...

. The group has been found in rock formations in Africa, Australia, Eurasia and North America. As ginglymodians, their closest living relatives are

gar Gars are an ancient group of ray-finned fish in the family Lepisosteidae. They comprise seven living species of fish in two genera that inhabit fresh, brackish, and occasionally marine waters of eastern North America, Central America and Cuba ...

s, with them being typically placed as nested within the

Semionotiformes Semionotiformes is an order of ray-finned fish known from the Middle Triassic (Anisian) to the Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian). Their closest living relatives are gars (Lepisosteidae), with both groups belonging to the clade Ginglymodi within th ...

. Many members of the family have elongated dorsal fins, often associated with adjacent area of skin which was free of scales. These fins were likely undulated for use in precision swimming. Their body morphology suggests that they were slow swimmers that were capable of maneuvering around complex topography, such as reef environments.

Taxonomy

*†Order Macrosemiiformes **†Family Macrosemiidae, Thiollière, 1858 *** Genus †''

Eosemionotus ''Eosemionotus'' ("dawn ''Semionotus''") is an extinct genus of prehistoric marine macrosemiid ray-finned fish from the Middle Triassic (Anisian to Ladinian). It was a speciose genus known from throughout Europe, including formations of the Musc ...

'' *** Genus †'' Agoultichthys'' *** Genus †'' Aphanepygus'' *** Genus †'' Disticholepis'' *** Genus †'' Enchelyolepis'' *** Genus †'' Orthurus'' *** Genus †'' Petalopteryx'' *** Genus †'' Neonotagogus'' *** Genus †'' Histionotus'' *** Genus †'' Legnonotus'' *** Genus †'' Macrosemius'' *** Genus †'' Propterus'' **''Incetae sedis'' *** Genus †'' Uarbryichthys'' *** Genus †'' Voelklichthys''

Timeline of genera

ImageSize = width:1000px height:auto barincrement:15px PlotArea = left:10px bottom:50px top:10px right:10px Period = from:-251 till:-50 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:10 start:-251 ScaleMinor = unit:year increment:1 start:-251 TimeAxis = orientation:hor AlignBars = justify Colors = #legends id:CAR value:claret id:ANK value:rgb(0.4,0.3,0.196) id:HER value:teal id:HAD value:green id:OMN value:blue id:black value:black id:white value:white id:mesozoic value:rgb(0.54,0.54,0.258) id:triassic value:rgb(0.51,0.17,0.57) id:earlytriassic value:rgb(0.6,0.22,0.61) id:middletriassic value:rgb(0.73,0.53,0.71) id:latetriassic value:rgb(0.78,0.65,0.8) id:jurassic value:rgb(0.2,0.7,0.79) id:earlyjurassic value:rgb(0,0.69,0.89) id:middlejurassic value:rgb(0.52,0.81,0.91) id:latejurassic value:rgb(0.74,0.89,0.97) id:cretaceous value:rgb(0.5,0.78,0.31) id:earlycretaceous value:rgb(0.63,0.78,0.65) id:latecretaceous value:rgb(0.74,0.82,0.37) BarData= bar:eratop bar:space bar:periodtop bar:space bar:NAM1 bar:NAM2 bar:NAM3 bar:NAM4 bar:NAM5 bar:NAM6 bar:NAM7 bar:NAM8 bar:space bar:period bar:space bar:era PlotData= align:center textcolor:black fontsize:M mark:(line,black) width:25 shift:(7,-4) bar:periodtop from: -251 till: -245 color:earlytriassic text:

Early Early may refer to: Places in the United States * Early, Iowa, a city * Early, Texas, a city * Early Branch, a stream in Missouri * Early County, Georgia * Fort Early, Georgia, an early 19th century fort Music * Early B, stage name of Jamaican d ...

from: -245 till: -228 color:middletriassic text:

Middle Middle or The Middle may refer to: * Centre (geometry), the point equally distant from the outer limits. Places * Middle (sheading), a subdivision of the Isle of Man * Middle Bay (disambiguation) * Middle Brook (disambiguation) * Middle Creek ...

from: -228 till: -199.6 color:latetriassic text:

Late Late or LATE may refer to: Everyday usage * Tardy, or late, not being on time * Late (or the late) may refer to a person who is dead Music * ''Late'' (The 77s album), 2000 * Late (Alvin Batiste album), 1993 * Late!, a pseudonym used by Dave Groh ...

from: -199.6 till: -175.6 color:earlyjurassic text:

from: -175.6 till: -161.2 color:middlejurassic text:

from: -161.2 till: -145.5 color:latejurassic text:

from: -145.5 till: -99.6 color:earlycretaceous text:

from: -99.6 till: -65.5 color:latecretaceous text:

bar:eratop from: -251 till: -199.6 color:triassic text:

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 ...

from: -199.6 till: -145.5 color:jurassic text:

Jurassic The Jurassic ( ) is a Geological period, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately 143.1 Mya. ...

from: -145.5 till: -65.5 color:cretaceous text:

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 143.1 to 66 mya (unit), million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era (geology), Era, as well as the longest. At around 77.1 million years, it is the ...

PlotData= align:left fontsize:M mark:(line,white) width:5 anchor:till align:left color:middletriassic bar:NAM1 from: -237 till: -149.03 text:

Ophiopsis ''Ophiopsis'' is an extinct genus of prehistoric ray-finned fish belonging to the family Ophiopsidae. Specimens are known from the Tithonian-age Solnhofen Formation of Bavaria, Germany. Taxonomy The type species, ''Ophiopsis muensteri'', was pre ...

color:latetriassic bar:NAM2 from: -228.7 till: -199.6 text: Legnonotus color:latejurassic bar:NAM3 from: -155.7 till: -149.03 text: Macrosemius color:latejurassic bar:NAM4 from: -155.7 till: -99.6 text: Histionotus color:latejurassic bar:NAM5 from: -150.8 till: -65.5 text: Propterus color:latejurassic bar:NAM6 from: -150.8 till: -65.5 text: Notagogus color:latejurassic bar:NAM7 from: -147.3 till: -130 text: Enchelyolepis color:earlycretaceous bar:NAM8 from: -145.5 till: -93.5 text: Petalopteryx PlotData= align:center textcolor:black fontsize:M mark:(line,black) width:25 bar:period from: -251 till: -245 color:earlytriassic text:

from: -245 till: -228 color:middletriassic text:

from: -228 till: -199.6 color:latetriassic text:

from: -199.6 till: -175.6 color:earlyjurassic text:

from: -175.6 till: -161.2 color:middlejurassic text:

from: -161.2 till: -145.5 color:latejurassic text:

from: -145.5 till: -99.6 color:earlycretaceous text:

from: -99.6 till: -65.5 color:latecretaceous text:

bar:era from: -251 till: -199.6 color:triassic text:

from: -199.6 till: -145.5 color:jurassic text:

from: -145.5 till: -65.5 color:cretaceous text:

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q6725643 Prehistoric ray-finned fish orders