Lycoptera

Lycoptera; Temporal range: Upper Jurassic-Lower Cretaceous PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
	L. davidi, from Yixian, Liaoning, China, Lower Cretaceous (Aptian)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Superorder:	Osteoglossomorpha
Order:	Lycopteriformes
Family:	Lycopteridae
Genus:	Lycoptera; Müller, 1847
Type species
	†Lycoptera middendorffi; Müller, 1847
Species
	See text
Synonyms
	Prolebias Sauvage, 1880;

Lycoptera is an extinct genus of fish that lived from the late Jurassic to Cretaceous periods in present-day China, Korea, Mongolia and Siberia. It is known from abundant fossils representing sixteen species, which serve as important index fossil used to date geologic formations in China. Along with the genus Peipiaosteus, Lycoptera has been considered a defining member of the Jehol Biota, a prehistoric ecosystem famous for its early birds and feathered dinosaurs, which flourished for 20 million years during the Early Cretaceous.[1]

Description

A reconstruction of Lycoptera davidi

Lycoptera species were small freshwater fish. Most species fed on plankton, and had numerous tiny teeth. A few species like L. gansuensis, L. muroii, and L. sinensis had larger teeth and probably fed on small insects and their larvae.[2]

Many specimens preserve minute details and impressions of soft tissues. Lycoptera was covered in tiny oval scales about 1.2 millimeters across, and, in life, would have had a superficial resemblance to the Common minnow.[3]

Lycoptera fossils are commonly found in large groups, buried together quickly in fine lake sediments. This probably indicates that they were gregarious in life, congregating in shoals.[2]

Classification and species

Lycoptera davidi (6.8 cm long), near-lowermost Cretaceous, Liaoning Province, China

L. muroii, 53mm, collected near Jehol, Liaoning, China, Lower Cretaceous

Sixteen species of Lycoptera have been described, nine from the Jehol Group. The table below is based primarily on the valid species listed by Zhang and Jin in the 2008 book The Jehol Fossils.[2]

Name	Author	Year	Status
Lycoptera middendorffi	Müller	1847	Valid, type species
Lycoptera macrorhyncha	(Eichwald)	(1868)
Lycoptera davidi	(Sauvage)	(1880)	Valid
Lycoptera sinensis	Woodward	1901	Valid
Lycoptera ferox	Grabau	1923
Lycoptera chosenensis	Makiyama	1927
Lycoptera kansuensis	Grabau	1928
Lycoptera woodwardi	Grabau	1928
Lycoptera jaholensis	Grabau	1928
Lycoptera fragilis	Hussakof	1932	Valid
Lycoptera takunagai	Seito	1936	Valid
Lycoptera muroii	(Takai)	(1943)	Valid
Lycoptera longicephalus	Liu et al.	1962	Valid
Lycoptera lunteensis	Liu et al.	1962
Lycoptera polyspondylus	Liu et al.	1962
Lycoptera tungi	Liu et al.	1962
Lycoptera wangi
Lycoptera sankeyushuensis	(Ma & Sun)	(1988)	Valid
Lycoptera fuxinensis	Zhang	2002	Valid

References

Jin, F., Zhang, F.C., Li, Z.H., Zhang, J.Y., Li, C. and Zhou, Z.H. (2008). "On the horizon of Protopteryx and the early vertebrate fossil assemblages of the Jehol Biota." Chinese Science Bulletin, 53(18): 2820-2827.
Zhang, J.Y.; Jin, F. (2008). "Fishes". In Chen, P.; Zhang, M.; Wang, Y. (eds.). The Jehol fossils: the emergence of feathered dinosaurs, beaked birds and flowering plants. Academic Press. pp. 69–76. ISBN 9780123741738.
Cockerell, Theodore D.A. (1922). "The affinities of the fish Lycoptera middendorffi". Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History. 51 (8). hdl:2246/1319.

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[jinetal2008-1] Jin, F., Zhang, F.C., Li, Z.H., Zhang, J.Y., Li, C. and Zhou, Z.H. (2008). "On the horizon of Protopteryx and the early vertebrate fossil assemblages of the Jehol Biota." Chinese Science Bulletin, 53(18): 2820-2827.

[jeholfossils-2] Zhang, J.Y.; Jin, F. (2008). "Fishes". In Chen, P.; Zhang, M.; Wang, Y. (eds.). The Jehol fossils: the emergence of feathered dinosaurs, beaked birds and flowering plants. Academic Press. pp. 69–76. ISBN 9780123741738.

[cockerell1922-3] Cockerell, Theodore D.A. (1922). "The affinities of the fish Lycoptera middendorffi". Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History. 51 (8). hdl:2246/1319.