Monopteros (fish) explained

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 448mm 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]

Notes and References

1. Web site: PBDB Taxon . 2024-09-10 . paleobiodb.org.
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 . 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 . en . 16 . 3 . e180031 . 10.1590/1982-0224-20180031 . 1679-6225.
4. Book: Geology . British Museum (Natural History) Department of . 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 . Woodward . Arthur Smith . 1901 . order of the Trustees . en.