- publication
- 07-10-2016
A new ginglymodian fish, Khoratichthys gibbus, gen. et sp. nov., is described based on the impression of a single articulated fish preserved on a sandstone slab from the Late Jurassic–Early Cretaceous Phu Kradung Formation, northeastern Thailand. Khoratichthys gibbus is characterized by a distinct humpbacked body with elongate posterior spines on the dorsal ridge scales; the cheek is completely covered by bone; it has few infraorbitals, the elongate anterior-most one shows a tiny contact with the orbit, and six suborbitals arranged in one row; the opercule is rectancular in shape; the preopercule is narrow and regularly curved; and the interopercule large. A cladistic analysis including the type species of 25 ginglymodian genera indicates that Khoratichthys is the basal-most Lepisosteiformes, in an unresolved position with Neosemionotus and Lophionotus. This taxon provides a new evidence of the high diversity of ginglymodian fishes in the Phu Kradung Formation. A high taxic diversity of ginglymodians in Middle Jurassic–Early Cretaceous of southern Asian (excluding India) freshwater environments is observed, indicating that this clade occupied a major position in freshwater fish assemblages.
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