Monopteros (fish)

Not to be confused with Monopterus, an extant fish genus.

Monopteros Temporal range: Early Eocene PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Osteoglossiformes
Family:	Osteoglossidae
Subfamily:	†Phareodontinae
Genus:	†Monopteros Volta, 1796
Species:	†M. gigas
Binomial name
†Monopteros gigas Volta, 1796

Monopteros is an extinct genus of marine bonytongue fish known from the Eocene. It contains a single species, M. gigas, known from the Early Eocene of Monte Bolca, Italy.^[1] Its genus name, Monopteros meaning "one wing", comes from its large, elongated pectoral fins. The species name, gigas, refers to its relatively large size at 448 millimetres (1.470 ft) in length.^[2]

It is thought to be a member of the extinct subfamily Phareodontinae, or at least closely related to it.^[3] Some earlier authorities erroneously placed it as a species of the late-surviving crossognathiform Platinx, which it co-occurred with.^[4]

References

1. "PBDB Taxon". paleobiodb.org. Retrieved 2024-09-10.
2. Taverne, Louis (1998). "Les Osteoglossomorphes marins de l'Eocene du Monte Bolca (Italie): Monopteros Volta 1796, Thrissopterus Heckel, 1856 et Foreyichthys Taverne, 1979, considerations sura la Phylogenie des Teleosteens Osteoglossomorphes" (PDF). Studies and Research on the Tertiary Deposits of Bolca. 7: 67–158.
3. Hilton, Eric J.; Lavoué, Sébastien (2018-10-11). "A review of the systematic biology of fossil and living bony-tongue fishes, Osteoglossomorpha (Actinopterygii: Teleostei)". Neotropical Ichthyology. 16 (3): e180031. doi:10.1590/1982-0224-20180031. ISSN 1679-6225.
4. Geology, British Museum (Natural History) Department of; Woodward, Arthur Smith (1901). Catalogue of the Fossil Fishes in the British Museum (Natural History): Actinopterygian Teleostomi of the suborders Isospondyli (in part), Ostariophysi, Apodes, Percesoces, Hemibranchii, Acanthopterygii, and Anacanthini. order of the Trustees.