Archaeus is an extinct genus of marine jackfish from the Paleogene of Europe, where it inhabited the former Tethys Ocean. The oldest species, A. oblongus is from the early Ypresian epoch of Eocene Turkmenistan, and the last species, A. glarisianus and A. solus, are from the early to middle Rupelian, of the Oligocene lagerstatten of Canton Glarus, Switzerland and the Pshekha Formation of North Caucasus, Russia.[1][2]
| Archaeus Temporal range: Early Eocene to Early Oligocene,
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|---|---|
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| A. glarisianus & "A. brevis" | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Carangiformes |
| Family: | Carangidae |
| Genus: | †Archaeus Agassiz, 1844 |
| Type species | |
| Archaeus glarisianus Agassiz 1844 | |
| Species | |
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See text | |
| Synonyms | |
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In life, Archaeus species would have resembled a small trevally, though, Archaeus had a proportionally smaller mouth, and larger eyes, and the tail was more fan-shaped, rather than crescent-shaped.
The following species are known:[1][2]
- A. glarisianus Agassiz, 1844 (Early Oligocene of Switzerland and Germany)
- A. oblongus Daniltshenko, 1968 (Early Eocene of Turkmenistan)
- A. solus Bannikov & Erebakan, 2023 (Early Oligocene of North Caucasus, Russia)[2]
The former species A. brevis is no longer considered valid. A specimen of A. glarisianus from the Oligocene of Abkhazia is now thought to represent an extinct species of Caranx, C. daniltshenkoi.[2]
References edit
- ^ a b "PBDB". paleobiodb.org. Retrieved 2024-03-01.
- ^ a b c d Bannikov, A. F.; Erebakan, I. G. (2023-04-01). "A New Species of Horse Mackerel Fish of the Genus Archaeus (Carangidae, Percomorpha) from the Lower Oligocene of the North Caucasus". Paleontological Journal. 57 (2): 199–205. doi:10.1134/S0031030123020041. ISSN 1555-6174.
- Catalogue of the fossil fishes in the British museum (Natural history) [1]
- PROKOFIEV Artém M. The Late Paleocene fish fauna of Turkmenistan
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