Biology:Thoracopterus

Short description: Extinct genus of fishes

Thoracopterus Temporal range: Ladinian-Norian PreЄ Є O S D C P T J K Pg N
Thoracopterus magnificus fossil
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Subphylum:	Vertebrata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	†Perleidiformes
Family:	†Thoracopteridae
Genus:	†Thoracopterus Bronn, 1858
Binomial name
†Thoracopterus niederristi Bronn, 1858
Other species
†T. magnificus Tintori & Sassi, 1992 †T. martinisi Tintori & Sassi, 1992 †T. telleri (Abel, 1906) †T. wushaensis Tintori et al., 2012
Synonyms
†Gigantopterus Abel, 1906 †Potanichthys Xu et al., 2013

Thoracopterus is an extinct genus of overwater gliding ray-finned fish. It was common to the late Middle Triassic and Late Triassic epochs in what is now Europe and China .

Thoracopterus had elongate pectoral fins, similar to modern Exocoetidae, which are used to glide overwater in order to escape aquatic predators. Thoracopterus represents the earliest known example for overwater gliding in actinopterygians.

Thoracopterus magnificus fossil

Potanichthys from the Triassic of China is considered a younger synonym of Thoracopterus

References

• Fishes of the World by Joseph S. Nelson (page 95)
• Wildlife of Gondwana: Dinosaurs and Other Vertebrates from the Ancient Supercontinent (Life of the Past) by Pat Vickers Rich, Thomas Hewitt Rich, Francesco Coffa, and Steven Morton
• The Rise of Fishes: 500 Million Years of Evolution by John A. Long

Wikidata ☰ Q3990780 entry