Chapter 8 - Phylogeny of Osteoglossomorpha

• Published in: Interrelationships of Fishes pp. 163 - 174
• Main Authors: Guo-Qing, Li, Wilson, Mark V.H.
• Format: Book Chapter
• Language: English
• Published: Academic Press 1996
• ISBN: 9780126709506; 0126709505
• DOI: 10.1016/B978-012670950-6/50009-6

This chapter focuses on more extensive studies of fossil and extant osteoglossomorphs, in which additional fossil taxa of osteoglossomorphs are described. The results of a cladistic analysis of 50 characters in 29 taxa are presented and analyzed with the macClade and paUp computer programs. Exclusively freshwater fishes, at least in the modern fauna, display interesting biogeographic distributions including apparent examples of endemism of extant suprageneric taxa (Hiodontidae in North America, and Mormyroidea and Pantodontidae in Africa), and circumtropical or old-world tropical distributions (Osteoglossidae and Notopteroidea) also. The Osteoglossomorpha were defined as a superorder of the Teleostei and have been the subject of numerous subsequent systematic studies. They are interesting to both ichthyologists and paleontologists because of their anatomy, physiology, geographic distribution, and ancient fossil record. Potentially, osteoglossomorphs represents an interesting case study of the role of continental movements in the radiation and distribution of freshwater organisms and of the importance of fossil taxa in the reconstruction of phylogenetic relationships of extant species.