Osteolepiformes

Osteolepiformes, also known as Osteolepidida, is a group of prehistoric lobe-finned fishes which first appeared during the Devonian period. The order contains the families Canowindridae, Megalichthyidae, Osteolepididae and Tristichopteridae, in addition to several monotypic families. The order is generally considered to be paraphyletic because the characters that define it are mainly attributes of stem tetrapodomorphs.^[1]

Quick Facts Scientific classification, Groups included ...

Osteolepiformes Temporal range: 396–299 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N Middle Devonian to Late Carboniferous
Osteolepis
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Clade:	Sarcopterygii
Clade:	Tetrapodomorpha
Order:	†Osteolepiformes Berg, 1937
Groups included
See text
Cladistically included but traditionally excluded taxa
Elpistostegalia

Close

The following taxonomy is based on Borgen & Nakrem, 2016:^[2]

• Order †Osteolepiformes
  • Suborder †Osteolepidoidei
    • Family †Osteolepididae
    • Family †Thursiidae
    • Family †Megalichthyidae
  • Suborder †Cyclolepidoidei
    • Superfamily †Eopodoidea
      • Family †Chrysolepididae
      • Family †Gyroptychiidae
      • Family Panderichthyidae (incl. Elpistostegalia)
      • Family †Tristichopteridae
    • Superfamily †Parapodoidea
      • Family †Canowindridae
      • Family †Medoevididae
    • Superfamily †Rhizodontoidea

Below is a cladogram showing the paraphyly of Osteolepiformes compiled and modified from Ahlberg and Johanson (1998).^[1] See also Swartz (2012).^[3] Osteolepiformes is marked by the green bracket.