''Parechelus'' 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 ...
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 prehistoric
bony fish
Osteichthyes ( ; ), also known as osteichthyans or commonly referred to as the bony fish, is a Biodiversity, diverse clade of vertebrate animals that have endoskeletons primarily composed of bone tissue. They can be contrasted with the Chondricht ...
that lived during 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 ...
(lower
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 ...
).
The genus was
circumscribed by Edgard Casier in 1967 for his
description
Description is any type of communication that aims to make vivid a place, object, person, group, or other physical entity. It is one of four rhetorical modes (also known as ''modes of discourse''), along with exposition, argumentation, and narr ...
of ''P. parechelus''.
When Casier circumscribed this genus, he simultaneously defined the family Parechelidae, with ''Parechelus'' as its sole genus; and placed it in the order
Anguilliformes
Eels are ray-finned fish belonging to the order (biology), order Anguilliformes (), which consists of eight suborders, 20 Family (biology), families, 164 genus, genera, and about 1000 species. Eels undergo considerable development from the earl ...
.
The family Parechelidae was considered to be intermediate between
Ophichthidae
Ophichthidae is a family (biology), family of fish in the order (biology), order Anguilliformes, commonly known as the snake eels. The term "Ophichthidae" comes from Greek language, Greek ''ophis'' ("serpent") and ''ichthys'' ("fish"). Snake eels ...
and
Muraenidae
Moray eels, or Muraenidae (), are a family of eels whose members are found worldwide. There are approximately 200 species in 15 genera which are almost exclusively marine, but several species are regularly seen in brackish water, ...
.
Jack Sepkoski
Joseph John Sepkoski Jr. (July 26, 1948 – May 1, 1999) was a University of Chicago paleontologist. Sepkoski studied the fossil record and the diversity of life on Earth. Sepkoski and David Raup produced a new understanding of extinction events ...
, citing
Colin Patterson, also classified the genus in Anguilliformes.
See also
*
Prehistoric fish
__NOTOC__
Prehistoric fish are early fish that are known only from fossil records. They are the earliest known vertebrates, and include the first and extinct fish that lived through the Cambrian to the Quaternary. The study of prehistoric fish is ...
*
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 ...
References
External links
*
*
Eocene fish
Prehistoric ray-finned fish genera
Prehistoric vertebrates of Oceania
{{paleo-anguilliformes-stub