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Marcopoloichthys

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Marcopoloichthys
Temporal range: Middle TriassicLate Triassic
Specimens of M. furreri
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Infraclass: Teleosteomorpha
Family: Marcopoloichthyidae
Tintori et al, 2007
Genus: Marcopoloichthys
Tintori, Sun, Lombardo, Jiang, Sun, Rusconi & Hao, 2007
Species
  • M. ani Tintori et al, 2007
  • M. andreetti Tintori et al, 2007
  • M. faccii (Gortani, 1907)
  • M. furreri Arratia, 2022
  • M. mirigioliensis Arratia et al, 2024

Marcopoloichthys is an extinct genus of marine teleosteomorph ray-finned fish known from the Middle and Late Triassic of the former Tethys Ocean (Italy, Switzerland, and China). It is the only genus in the family Marcopoloichthyidae. It was originally described based on specimens from both Italy and China, hence the name Marcopoloichthys, which references the medieval Venetian merchant Marco Polo, who traveled from Italy to China.[1][2]

Five species are known:

The youngest Marcopoloichthys fossils are of an undescribed species from the Norian of Friuli, Italy.[3]

The skull of M. furreri at rest and during feeding, showing the specialized jaws

Marcopoloichthys was a small, scaleless fish with highly specialized, protractile jaws for suction feeding, and a combination of primitive and advanced morphological characters that make it difficult to phylogenetically place. Initially described as an indeterminate basal neopterygian, more recent studies have found it to be a stem-teleost. It somewhat resembles another early teleostomorph, Prohalecites.[1][3]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d e Tintori, Andrea; Sun, Zuo-Yu; Lombardo, Cristina; Jiang, Da-Yong; Sun, Yuan-Lin; Rusconi, Marco; Hao, Wei-cheng (2007). "NEW SPECIALIZED BASAL NEOPTERYGIANS (ACTINOPTERYGII) FROM TRIASSIC OF THE TETHYS REALM". Geol. Insubr. 10 (2) – via ResearchGate.
  2. ^ "PBDB". paleobiodb.org. Retrieved 2024-01-04.
  3. ^ a b c Arratia, Gloria (2022-05-07). "The outstanding suction-feeder Marcopoloichthys furreri new species (Actinopterygii) from the Middle Triassic Tethys Realm of Europe and its implications for early evolution of neopterygian fishes". Fossil Record. 25 (2): 231–261. doi:10.3897/fr.25.85621. ISSN 2193-0074.
  4. ^ Arratia, Gloria; Bürgin, Toni; Furrer, Heinz (2024-06-14). "A new suction feeder and miniature teleosteomorph, Marcopoloichthys mirigioliensis, from the lower Besano Formation (late Anisian) of Monte San Giorgio". Swiss Journal of Palaeontology. 143 (1): 25. doi:10.1186/s13358-024-00318-5. ISSN 1664-2384.