Plethodidae is an extinct

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 ...

teleost Teleostei (; Ancient Greek, Greek ''teleios'' "complete" + ''osteon'' "bone"), members of which are known as teleosts (), is, by far, the largest group of ray-finned fishes (class Actinopterygii), with 96% of all neontology, extant species of f ...

fish A fish (: fish or fishes) is an aquatic animal, aquatic, Anamniotes, anamniotic, gill-bearing vertebrate animal with swimming fish fin, fins and craniate, a hard skull, but lacking limb (anatomy), limbs with digit (anatomy), digits. Fish can ...

that existed 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 ...

period.

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 ...

s are known from

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

North Africa North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...

, and

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

Description

Plethodids possessed thin, angelfish-like bodies and often had high

dorsal fin A dorsal fin is a fin on the back of most marine and freshwater vertebrates. Dorsal fins have evolved independently several times through convergent evolution adapting to marine environments, so the fins are not all homologous. They are found ...

s which made them distinctive from other types of fish. Their skeletons were partially

cartilaginous Cartilage is a resilient and smooth type of connective tissue. Semi-transparent and non-porous, it is usually covered by a tough and fibrous membrane called perichondrium. In tetrapods, it covers and protects the ends of long bones at the joints ...

, though the amount varied from one species to another. File:Bananogmius 2 (cropped).jpg, '' Bananogmius aratus'' File:Paranogmius restoration.png, '' Paranogmius doederleini'' File:Reconstruction of Tselfatia formosa (cropped).png, '' Tselfatia formosa''

Genera

Plethodidae contains the following genera: * '' Bachea'' * '' Bananogmius'' * '' Concavotectum''? * '' Dixonanogmius'' * '' Enischnorhynchus'' * '' Luxilites'' * '' Martinichthys'' * '' Moorevillia'' * '' Niobrara'' * '' Paranogmius'' * ''

Pentanogmius ''Pentanogmius'' is an extinct genus of sail-finned Actinopterygii, ray-finned fish that lived during the Late Cretaceous in what is now Europe and the United States. Five species are currently recognized, 2 from Cenomanian to Turonian Europe and ...

'' * '' Plethodus'' * '' Pseudanogmius'' * '' Pseudothryptodus'' * ''

Rhamphoichthys ''Rhamphoichthys'' is an Extinction, extinct genus of billfish-like Plethodidae, plethodid Actinopterygii, ray-finned fish from Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian). It contains one valid species, ''R. taxidiotis'' from the Hesseltal Formation of Germany ...

'' * '' Syntegmodus'' * '' Thryptodus'' * '' Tselfatia'' * '' Zanclites''

References

Tselfatiiformes

† A dagger, obelisk, or obelus is a typographical mark that usually indicates a footnote if an asterisk has already been used. The symbol is also used to indicate death (of people) or extinction (of species or languages). It is one of the mo ...

Cretaceous bony fish Late Cretaceous first appearances Late Cretaceous extinctions {{paleo-rayfinned-fish-stub