''Zignoichthys oblongus'' 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 ...
prehistoric
relative
Relative may refer to:
General use
*Kinship and family, the principle binding the most basic social units of society. If two people are connected by circumstances of birth, they are said to be ''relatives''.
Philosophy
*Relativism, the concept t ...
of the
pufferfish
Tetraodontidae is a family of marine and freshwater fish in the order Tetraodontiformes. The family includes many familiar species variously called pufferfish, puffers, balloonfish, blowfish, blowers, blowies, bubblefish, globefish, swellfis ...
and
porcupine fish that lived during the
Lutetian
The Lutetian is, in the geologic timescale, a stage (stratigraphy), stage or age (geology), age in the Eocene. It spans the time between . The Lutetian is preceded by the Ypresian and is followed by the Bartonian. Together with the Bartonian it ...
epoch of the
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 ...
. ''Z. oblongus'' fossils are found from the
Monte Bolca
Monte Bolca is an Ypresian, Early Eocene-aged geologic site located near Verona, Italy, Verona, Italy. A ''Konservat-Lagerstätte'', it contains an extremely well-preserved and diverse marine biota, including the most diverse fish fauna of any Ce ...
lagerstätte
A Fossil-Lagerstätte (, from ''Lager'' 'storage, lair' '' Stätte'' 'place'; plural ''Lagerstätten'') is a sedimentary deposit that preserves an exceptionally high amount of palaeontological information. ''Konzentrat-Lagerstätten'' preserv ...
of what is now Italy.
It lacked a pelvis, and probably could not inflate its body like its modern-day relatives. In life, it would have resembled a paunchy triggerfish or a pufferfish with an elongated, downturned face.
See also
*
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 ...
* ''
Iraniplectus'', a close relative from
Oligocene
The Oligocene ( ) is a geologic epoch (geology), epoch of the Paleogene Geologic time scale, Period that extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present ( to ). As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that defin ...
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...
* ''
Eotetraodon
''Eotetraodon'' ("dawn ''Tetraodon''") is an extinct genus of miniature prehistoric Tetraodontidae, pufferfish that lived in Europe from the early to mid-late Eocene. It is the earliest pufferfish known from fossil remains.
The following species ...
'', a genus of primitive pufferfish, one species, ''E. pygmaeus'', lived sympatrically with ''Z. oblongus''
References
External links
Mikko's Phylogeny Archive entry on "Tetraodontoidea"
Eocene fish
Tetraodontiformes
Fossils of Italy
Fossil taxa described in 1975
{{paleo-tetraodontiformes-stub