Wednesday, July 8, 2015

[PaleoIchthyology • 2015] Beiduyu qijiangensis • A Late Jurassic Freshwater Fish (Ginglymodi, Lepisosteiformes) from Qijiang, Chongqing, China


Beiduyu qijiangensis
Murray, Xing,  Divay, Liu & Wang, 2015


ABSTRACT
A new ginglymodian fish Beiduyu qijiangensis, gen. et sp. nov., is described from the freshwater Upper Jurassic Suining Formation of Chongqing, China. Although the fish is not completely preserved, it is most similar to Lepidotes and Scheenstia, which were once considered to be members of the Semionotiformes but are currently considered to be basal members of the Lepisosteiformes. The new fish lacks the strong dorsal ridge scales found in the Semionotiformes but has other features such as ganoid scales with anterodorsal and anteroventral processes but a reduced dorsal peg found in these basal lepisosteiform genera. With the description of this new taxon, there are three distinct ginglymodian fishes now known from southern China, all of them from Sichuan Province.




SYSTEMATIC PALEONTOLOGY

Division HOLOSTEI Müller, 1845 (sensu Grande, 2010)
Subdivision GINGLYMODI Cope, 1872 (sensu Grande, 2010)
Order LEPISOSTEIFORMES Hay, 1929 (sensu Lopez-Arbarello, 2012)

Included  Taxa — Lepidotes Agassiz 1832, Scheenstia Lopez-Arbarello and Sferco, 2011, and members of the Lepisosteoidei following Lopez-Arbarello, 2012.

BEIDUYU, gen. nov.

Type Species — Beiduyu qijiangensis, sp. nov.
Diagnosis — As for type and only known species.
Etymology — The generic name is a combination of Beidu, the fossil locality, and ‘yu,’ meaning ‘fish’ in Chinese.

BEIDUYU QIJIANGENSIS, sp. nov.(Figs. 2–5)

Holotype — A nearly complete fish missing part of the caudal peduncle and the anterior part of the skull. Catalog number QJGPM 1002.

Type Locality — Beidu, Qijiang, Chongqing Municipality, Sichuan Province, China.
Horizon and Age — Suining Formation, Late Jurassic age.

Etymology — The specific epithet is for Qijiang, the area from which the fossil was recovered.



Alison M. Murray, Lida Xing, Julien Divay, Juan Liu and Fengping Wang. 2015.
A Late Jurassic Freshwater Fish (Ginglymodi, Lepisosteiformes) from Qijiang, Chongqing, China.
Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 35(2) DOI: 10.1080/02724634.2014.911187

 Alison M. Murray, Lida Xing, Julien Divay, Juan Liu & Fengping Wang. 2015.
Correct size of the Late Jurassic freshwater fish, Beiduyu qijiangensis (Ginglymodi, Lepisosteiformes) from Qijiang, Chongqing, China,
Journal of 
Vertebrate Paleontology. 35(3). DOI: 10.1080/02724634.2015.1039862