Paleohoplias

Paleohoplias
Temporal range: Late Miocene-Pliocene,
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Characiformes
Family: Erythrinidae
Genus: Paleohoplias
Bocquentin & Negri in Gayet, Jegu, Bocquentin & Negri, 2003
Type species
Paleohoplias assisbrasiliensis
Bocquentin & Negri in Gayet, Jegu, Bocquentin & Negri, 2003
Other species
  • Paleohoplias amazonensis Decat et al, 2026

Paleohoplias is an extinct genus of freshwater characin fish in the family Erythrinidae found in Brazil, South America. Two species are known.[2]

Taxonomy

The type speciesPaleohoplias assisbrasiliensis Bocquentin & Negri, 2003 was described in 2003, and was found in the Solimões Formation in the State of Acre, Brazil, dating to the Huayqueriense-Montehermoseuse (Late Miocene-Pliocene) age.[1] A second species, †Paleohoplias amazonensis Decat et al, 2026 was described from the same formation in 2026.[2]

Etymology

The generic name Paleohoplias comes from the Greek palaios, which means "old", and hoplias, which is a closely related genus of fish in the same family, Erythrinidae. The species name assisbrasiliensis is in reference to the city of Assis Brasil, which is near the type locality.[1]

Classification

Paleohoplias is one of four genera within the family Erythrinidae, and the only extinct genus.[3] It is most closely related to the genus Hoplias.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Gayet, Mireille; Jegu, Michel; Bocquentin, Jean; Negri, Francisco (April 2003). "New characoids from the Upper Cretaceous and Paleocene of Bolivia and the Mio-Pliocene of Brazil: Phylogenetic position and paleobiogeographic implications". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 23 (1): 28–46. doi:10.1671/0272-4634(2003)23[28:NCFTUC]2.0.CO;2.
  2. ^ a b Decat, Bernardo; Aguilera, Orangel; Costa da Silva, Rafael; Oliveira de Araújo, Olga; De Gracia, Carlos; Tadeu Lopes, Ricardo (2026-04-15). "Fossil record and paleogeography of Erythrinidae (Characiformes): new fossil evidence of Paleohoplias from the Solimões Formation". Journal of South American Earth Sciences. 174 105957. doi:10.1016/j.jsames.2026.105957. ISSN 0895-9811.
  3. ^ Blanco, Daniel Rodrigues; Lui, Roberto Laridondo; Bertollo, Luiz Antonio Carlos; Margarido, Vladimir Pavan; Moreira Filho, Orlando (2010). "Karyotypic diversity between allopatric populations of the group Hoplias malabaricus (Characiformes: Erythrinidae): evolutionary and biogeographic considerations". Neotropical Ichthyology. 8 (2): 361–368. doi:10.1590/S1679-62252010000200015.