Marcopoloichthys
Appearance
Marcopoloichthys Temporal range:
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Specimens of M. furreri | |
Scientific 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 | |
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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:
- M. ani Tintori et al., 2007 – Anisian of Yunnan, China. (type species)[1]
- M. andreetti Tintori et al., 2007 – Ladinian of Lombardy, Italy.[1]
- M. faccii (Gortani, 1907) – Carnian of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy (initially described as Pholidophorus faccii)[1]
- M. furreri Arratia, 2022 – Ladinian of Grisons, Switzerland[3]
- M. mirigioliensis Arratia et al., 2024 – late Anisian of the Besano Formation (Monte San Giorgio, Ticino, Switzerland)[4]
The youngest Marcopoloichthys fossils are of an undescribed species from the Norian of Friuli, Italy.[3]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c2/Marcopoloichthys_furreri_skull_reconstructions.jpg/196px-Marcopoloichthys_furreri_skull_reconstructions.jpg)
Marcopoloichthys was a small, scaleless fish with highly specialized, protractile jaws for
References
- ^ 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.
- ^ "PBDB". paleobiodb.org. Retrieved 2024-01-04.
- ^ ISSN 2193-0074.
- ISSN 1664-2384.