ON THE MOST PRIMITIVE AMIID FISH FROM UPPER TRIASSIC OF XINGYI, GUIZHOU

A primitive amiid fish, Guizhouamia bellula gen. et sp. nov., is described in this paper, which is found from the marine Upper Triassic rocks of Xingyi, Guizhou. This fish is of great palaeontological interest because it belongs to a form of amiid which is so primitive in the nature of vertebral column, the unusual small size and the simply bifurcated rays that serve well to represent the genuine ancestor of the common Cretaceous Cenozoic amiid genera such as Cyclurus, Amia , etc., which have very wide distribution in North America and Western Europe. The new discovery shows that the history of the amiid fishes could be further traced back from about 150 million years ago to about 220 million years ago.

Project Supported:

Clc Number:

Q915.862