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The study of prehistoric fish is called paleoichthyology. A few living forms, such as the coelacanth are also referred to as prehistoric fish, or even living fossils, due to their current rarity and similarity to extinct forms. Fish which have become recently extinct are not usually referred to as prehistoric fish.
Coelacanths (/ ˈ s iː l ə k æ n θ / ⓘ SEE-lə-kanth) (order Coelacanthiformes) are an ancient group of lobe-finned fish (Sarcopterygii) in the class Actinistia. [2] [3] As sarcopterygians, they are more closely related to lungfish and tetrapods (which includes amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals) than to ray-finned fish.
Most jawless fish are now extinct; but the extant lampreys may approximate ancient pre-jawed fish. Lampreys belong to the Cyclostomata, which includes the extant hagfish, and this group may have split early on from other agnathans.
Arandaspis prionotolepis. This list of prehistoric jawless fish is an attempt to create a comprehensive listing of all genera from the fossil record that have ever been considered to be jawless fish, excluding purely vernacular terms.
Tiktaalik (/ t ɪ k ˈ t ɑː l ɪ k /; Inuktitut ᑎᒃᑖᓕᒃ) is a monospecific genus of extinct sarcopterygian (lobe-finned fish) from the Late Devonian Period, about 375 Mya (million years ago), having many features akin to those of tetrapods (four-legged animals). [1]
Dunkleosteus is an extinct genus of large arthrodire ("jointed-neck") fish that existed during the Late Devonian period, about 382–358 million years ago.It was a pelagic fish inhabiting open waters, and one of the first vertebrate apex predators of any ecosystem.
Leedsichthys is an extinct genus of pachycormid fish that lived in the oceans of the Middle to Late Jurassic. [1] It is the largest ray-finned fish, and amongst the largest fish known to have ever existed. [2] The first remains of Leedsichthys were identified in the nineteenth century.
A fish with limb-like fins that could take it onto land. [75] It is an example from several lines of ancient sarcopterygian fish developing adaptations to the oxygen-poor shallow-water habitats of its time, which led to the evolution of tetrapods. [61]