Aphnelepis Temporal range:
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Actinopterygii |
Family: | †Archaeomaenidae |
Genus: | †Aphnelepis Woodward, 1895 |
Species: | †A. australis
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Binomial name | |
†Aphnelepis australis Woodward, 1895
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Aphnelepis is an extinct genus of prehistoric freshwater ray-finned fish that lived during the Late Jurassic epoch.[1][2] It contains a single species, A. australis, from the Talbragar River beds of New South Wales, Australia.[3]
Initially described as a "semionotiform", it is now generally recovered as a basal teleostean related to the sympatric Archaeomaene. Some studies classify it in its own family, Aphnelepidae, which is sister to Aetheolepis, with both families together being sister to Archaeomaenidae.[2][3][4] However, Aphnelepidae is considered synonymous with Archaeomaenidae by other authorities.[5]