''Stichopterus'' is an extinct

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...

chondrostean Chondrostei is a group of non-neopterygian ray-finned fish, while the term originally referred to a paraphyletic group of all non-neopterygian ray-finned fish, it was redefined by Patterson in 1982 to be a clade comprising the Acipenseriformes ...

ray-finned fish Actinopterygii (; ), members of which are known as ray-finned fishes, is a class of bony fish. They comprise over 50% of living vertebrate species. The ray-finned fishes are so called because their fins are webs of skin supported by bony or h ...

that lived during the

Early Cretaceous The Early Cretaceous (geochronological name) or the Lower Cretaceous ( chronostratigraphic name), is the earlier or lower of the two major divisions of the Cretaceous. It is usually considered to stretch from 145 Ma to 100.5 Ma. Geology Pr ...

epoch in

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an ...

. It has been found in

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...

(

Murtoi Formation The Murtoi Formation is a geologic formation in vicinity of Lake Gusinoye in Russia. It was deposited in the late Barremian to the mid Aptian of the Early Cretaceous. Paleofauna *'' Kirgizemys dmitrievi'' *''Tengrisaurus starkovi'' *'' Khurenduk ...

) and

Mongolia Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 millio ...

. The

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen( ...

, ''Stichopterus woodwardi'', was named and described in 1909. Since then, up to three other species have been named or were reallocated to ''Stichopterus'', respectively. ''Stichopterus'' is similar to ''

Peipiaosteus ''Peipiaosteus'' is an extinct genus of prehistoric Chondrostei, chondrostean Actinopterygii, ray-finned fish. Its fossils are found in the Early Cretaceous Jiufotang Formation, Pani Lake, Liaoning Province, China.Liu, H. T. and Zhou, J . J. ...

'' from China. Both genera belong to the

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Peipiaosteidae Peipiaosteidae is an extinct family of fish, known from the Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous of Asia. They are members of Acipenseriformes, related to sturgeons (Acipenseridae) and paddlefish (Polyodontidae). Fossils have been found in freshwat ...

, together with '' Liaosteus'', '' Spherosteus'', and '' Yanosteus''. Peipiaosteidae are extinct relatives of Modern

sturgeons Sturgeon is the common name for the 27 species of fish belonging to the family Acipenseridae. The earliest sturgeon fossils date to the Late Cretaceous, and are descended from other, earlier acipenseriform fish, which date back to the Early ...

and paddlefishes (

Acipenseroidei Acipenseriformes is an order of basal ray-finned fishes that includes living and fossil sturgeons and paddlefishes (Acipenseroidei), as well as the extinct families Chondrosteidae and Peipiaosteidae. They are the second earliest divergi ...

References

Cretaceous fish Cretaceous fish of Asia Fossil taxa described in 1909 Acipenseriformes {{Cretaceous-fish-stub

See also

References