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Holoptychius
Extinct genus of fishes

Holoptychius is an extinct genus of porolepiform lobe-finned fish from the Middle Devonian to Carboniferous (Mississippian) periods. It is known from fossils worldwide. The genus was first described by Louis Agassiz in 1839.

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Description

Holoptychius was a streamlined predator about 50 centimetres (20 in) long (though largest specimen could grew up to 2.5 metres (8.2 ft)), which fed on other bony fish. Its rounded scales and body form indicate that it could have swum quickly through the water to catch prey.34 Similar to other rhipidistians, it had fang-like teeth on its palate in addition to smaller teeth on the jaws. Its asymmetrical tail sported a caudal fin on its lower end. To compensate for the downward push caused by this fin placement, the pectoral fins of Holoptychius were placed high on the body.

Species

Of the genus Holoptychius the following species have been described:5

Distribution

Fossils of Holoptychius have been found in the Mississippian of the United Kingdom and the Devonian of Belgium, Colombia (Cuche Formation, Boyacá),910 Norway, Canada,1112 the Russian Federation, and the United States (Pennsylvania).13

Palaeoecology

Isotopic analysis of Holoptychius remains from Greenland reveals that it was likely a euryhaline organism.14

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Bibliography

Media related to Holoptychius at Wikimedia Commons

References

  1. Roberts, George (1839). An etymological and explanatory dictionary of the terms and language of geology. London: Longman, Orme, Brown, Green, & Longmans. p. 78. Retrieved 30 December 2021. https://archive.org/details/anetymologicala00robegoog ↩

  2. Species Holoptychius[permanent dead link‍] https://fossiilid.info/12069/species ↩

  3. Palmer, D., ed. (1999). The Marshall Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals. London: Marshall Editions. p. 43. ISBN 1-84028-152-9. 1-84028-152-9 ↩

  4. Holland, Timothy (2010). "Upper Devonian osteichthyan remains from the Genoa River, Victoria, Australia" (PDF). Memoirs of Museum Victoria. 67: 35–44. doi:10.24199/j.mmv.2010.67.04. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 4, 2016. Retrieved 2017-04-04. https://web.archive.org/web/20160304124155/http://museumvictoria.com.au/pages/21374/67_holland.pdf ↩

  5. Species Holoptychius[permanent dead link‍] https://fossiilid.info/12069/species ↩

  6. Downs, Jason P.; Daeschler, Edward B.; Jenkins, Farish A.; Shubin, Neil H. (2013-03). "Holoptychius bergmannisp. nov. (Sarcopterygii, Porolepiformes) from the Upper Devonian of Nunavut, Canada, and a Review ofHoloptychiusTaxonomy". Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. 162 (1): 47–59. doi:10.1635/053.162.0104. ISSN 0097-3157. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/262376306_Holoptychius_bergmanni_sp_nov_Sarcopterygii_Porolepiformes_from_the_Upper_Devonian_of_Nunavut_Canada_and_a_Review_of_Holoptychius_Taxonomy ↩

  7. Miller, Randall F.; Brazeau, Martin D. (2007-01-01). "A Late Devonian porolepiform fish (Holoptychius) and the age of the kennebecasis formation, southern New Brunswick, Canada". Atlantic Geology. 43: 187–197. doi:10.4138/5650. https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?p=AONE&sw=w&issn=08435561&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CA264271870&sid=googleScholar&linkaccess=abs ↩

  8. Mondéjar-Fernández, Jorge; Janvier, Philippe (2014-10-01). "Further evidence for the presence of holoptychiid porolepiforms (Sarcopterygii, Dipnomorpha) from the Frasnian of Colombia". Comptes Rendus Palevol. 13 (7): 587–597. Bibcode:2014CRPal..13..587M. doi:10.1016/j.crpv.2014.03.009. ISSN 1631-0683. https://doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.crpv.2014.03.009 ↩

  9. Janvier & Villarroel, 1998 ↩

  10. Mondéjar-Fernández, Jorge; Janvier, Philippe (2014-10-01). "Further evidence for the presence of holoptychiid porolepiforms (Sarcopterygii, Dipnomorpha) from the Frasnian of Colombia". Comptes Rendus Palevol. 13 (7): 587–597. Bibcode:2014CRPal..13..587M. doi:10.1016/j.crpv.2014.03.009. ISSN 1631-0683. https://doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.crpv.2014.03.009 ↩

  11. Downs, Jason P.; Daeschler, Edward B.; Jenkins, Farish A.; Shubin, Neil H. (2013-03). "Holoptychius bergmannisp. nov. (Sarcopterygii, Porolepiformes) from the Upper Devonian of Nunavut, Canada, and a Review ofHoloptychiusTaxonomy". Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. 162 (1): 47–59. doi:10.1635/053.162.0104. ISSN 0097-3157. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/262376306_Holoptychius_bergmanni_sp_nov_Sarcopterygii_Porolepiformes_from_the_Upper_Devonian_of_Nunavut_Canada_and_a_Review_of_Holoptychius_Taxonomy ↩

  12. Miller, Randall F.; Brazeau, Martin D. (2007-01-01). "A Late Devonian porolepiform fish (Holoptychius) and the age of the kennebecasis formation, southern New Brunswick, Canada". Atlantic Geology. 43: 187–197. doi:10.4138/5650. https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?p=AONE&sw=w&issn=08435561&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CA264271870&sid=googleScholar&linkaccess=abs ↩

  13. Holoptychius at Fossilworks.org https://paleobiodb.org/classic/checkTaxonInfo?taxon_no=149966 ↩

  14. Goedert, Jean; Lécuyer, Christophe; Amiot, Romain; Arnaud-Godet, Florent; Wang, Xu; Cui, Linlin; Cuny, Gilles; Douay, Guillaume; Fourel, François; Panczer, Gérard; Simon, Laurent; Steyer, J.-Sébastien; Zhu, Min (30 May 2018). "Euryhaline ecology of early tetrapods revealed by stable isotopes". Nature. 558 (7708): 68–72. doi:10.1038/s41586-018-0159-2. ISSN 1476-4687. Retrieved 14 February 2025. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-018-0159-2 ↩