A fossil unicorn crestfish (Teleostei, Lampridiformes, Lophotidae) from the Eocene of Iran.
A fossil unicorn crestfish (Teleostei, Lampridiformes, Lophotidae) from the Eocene of Iran.
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作者：
Davesne D
Lophotidae或Crestfishes是一个稀有的深海宣传，其特征是在额头上像Horn一样的角，在化石记录中的代表不佳，仅描述了三个标本。伊朗中期始新世Zagros盆地的倍元动物。 †Babelichthys Olneyi，Gen。深海遗产植物动物属于其所属的动物，从而提高了我们对早期新生代中质生态系统分类学组成的理解。
Lophotidae, or crestfishes, is a family of rare deep-sea teleosts characterised by an enlarged horn-like crest on the forehead. They are poorly represented in the fossil record, by only three described taxa. One specimen attributed to Lophotidae has been described from the pelagic fauna of the middle-late Eocene Zagros Basin, Iran. Originally considered as a specimen of the fossil lophotid †Protolophotus, it is proposed hereby as a new genus and species †Babelichthys olneyi, gen. et sp. nov., differs from the other fossil lophotids by its relatively long and strongly projecting crest, suggesting a close relationship with the modern unicorn crestfish, Eumecichthys. This new taxon increases the diversity of the deep-sea teleost fauna to which it belongs, improving our understanding of the taxonomic composition of the early Cenozoic mesopelagic ecosystems.