2.13 Palaeoniscus
Early members of the ray-finned fish radiation (i.e. those present during the late Palaeozoic) are sometimes referred to collectively as ‘palaeoniscids’. It is from somewhere within this early assemblage that we believe the ancestors of more advanced forms (sturgeons, gars, the Bowfin and ultimately the teleost fish) arose.
Above: Cast of a fossil of the fish Palaeoniscus, the head is to the left.
Palaeoniscus comes from the Late Permain of Germany. Note the major fins and head structures etc. and the presence of the primitive heterocercal tail.
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