New Large Ray-Finned Fish Species from 244 Million Years Ago Discovered in Yunnan
New discovery of Luopingpeixue: fossil of a large ray-finned fish from 244 million years ago in Yunnan reveals new evidence of evolution A complete fossil and key skeletal features appear together; click to see how it rewrites the distribution of the genus Peixue
Xu Guanghui's team from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, recently discovered a new species of large rayfinned fish, about 244 million years old, in the Luoping Biota of Yunnan, and named it Luoping wing cod.
The study shows that the fossil is relatively well preserved, with the largest individual measuring about 26 cm in total length. It features multiple circumorbital bones, 40 principal pelvicfin rays, and as many as 90 rows of lateralline scales, providing new evidence for understanding the skeletal morphology and species diversity of the genus Paragnathodus.
The paper has been published in the international academic journal Mesozoic. Researchers believe that this discovery not only enriches the fish fossil record of the Luoping Biota, but also extends the geographic distribution of the genus Paragnathodus to Asia, and provides important clues for studying its evolutionary history in the Middle Triassic.