Two New Species and a Revised Phylogeny of the Ellimmichthyiformes (Teleostei: Clupeomorpha)

• Author / Creator

  Vernygora, Oksana V

• The Ellimmichthyiformes is an extinct order of clupeomorph fishes. This group includes fossil species from marine, estuarine, and freshwater sediments ranging in time from the Early Cretaceous to the Eocene. In spite of the long history of taxonomic studies on the Clupeomorpha, phylogenetic relationships within the group remain unresolved. Two new species of the Ellimmichthyiformes are described and included in the revised phylogenetic analysis of the order. The updated phylogenetic analysis recovered the Ellimmichthyiformes as a monophyletic group characterized by the medially united parietals, absence of the recessus lateralis, presence of the basipterygoid process, and epurals that are tightly fixed between the neural spines of the preural centra. The new phylogenetic hypothesis revealed patterns in the paleobiogeographic history of this group of fishes, suggesting that the ellimmichthyiforms may have originated in the tropical region of South America and were predominantly euryhaline fishes.

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Teleostei
  • Clupeomorpha
  • Paleontology
  • Ellimmichthyiformes
  • Phylogeny
  • New species

• Graduation date

  Fall 2015

• Type of Item

  Thesis

• Degree

  Master of Science

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/R3H41JZ1X

• License

  This thesis is made available by the University of Alberta Libraries with permission of the copyright owner solely for non-commercial purposes. This thesis, or any portion thereof, may not otherwise be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner, except to the extent permitted by Canadian copyright law.