A review of the fossil record of the Labridae
Journal Publication ResearchOnline@JCUAbstract
The published fossil record of the Labridae is critically evaluated. In total, fossils from 14 genera are provisionally placed within the family (the Scaridae is recognized as a tribe Scarini within the Labridae). Numerous specimens, previously recorded as Labridae, are now placed within other families, most notably the Phyllodontidae (Elopiformes). The labrid tribe Hypsigeniyni is characterized by the possession of an unusual, derived, phyllodont dentition in the pharyngeal bones. Fossils of this clade are particularly abundant, especially specimens in the genus Labrodon. This material permitted a reconstruction of the biogeography of the Hypsigenyini from its earliest record in the Eocene of Monte Bolca in Italy (Phyllopharyngodon), before extending across the central Tethys in the late Eocene (Labrodon), and from the New World to Europe, Sri Lanka, and New Zealand in the Miocene (Labrodon). The biogeographic expansion of the Hypsigenyini in the fossil record strongly supports inferences from recent molecular phylogenetic evidence.
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Annalen des Naturhistorischen Museums in Wien, Serie A
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121
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0255-0091
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Pages Count
69
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Naturhistorischen Museums in Wien
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