Amiopsis lepidota (Agassiz, 1833)

Taxonomy

Bowfin

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata Haeckel 1874
Class: Actinopteri Cope 1871
Order: Amiiformes Hay 1929
Family: Amiidae Huxley 1861
Genus: Amiopsis
Species: Amiopsis lepidota
Author Citation (Agassiz, 1833)

Geological Time Scale

Eon: Phanerozoic
Era: Mesozoic
Period: Jurassic
Sub Period: None
Epoch: Late
International Age: Tithonian

Stratigraphy

Weissjura Group
Altmühltal Formation

Biostratigraphy

Hybonoticeras hybonotum Zone
Lithacoceras riedense Subzone

Provenance

Acquired by: Purchase/Trade

Dimensions

Length: 36 cm

Location

Wintershof
Eichstätt District
Bavaria
Germany

• amiopsis
• bowfin
• eichstaett
• jurassic
• solnhofen
• tithonian
• wintershof

Comments

Taxonomy from Fossilworks.org.
Etymology: Lepidota (Greek), a form of lepidotós, scaly.
Grande & Bemis 1998, p.490: “ Originally described as †Megalurus lepidotus by Agassiz in 1833:146, and listed that way by numerous authors over the next 100 years or so, but †Megalurus Agassiz is a junior homonym--see generic list for †Amiopsis Kner, 1863, above. Also referred to as †Urocles lepidotus by Jordan (1919:567); Lange (1968:32); Lambers (1992:295); and others."
Grande & Bemis 1998, p.493: “Emended species diagnosis-†Amiopsis lepidota differs from other species of the genus by the following adult characters A through D (note there is a range of overlap between some species for characters B, C, and D). (A) The opercle is wider than in other species of the genus (0.96-1.00 compared to 0.77-0.83 in †A. woodwardi, 0.91-0.92 in †A. damoni, 0.82 in †A. dolloi, and an estimated 0.80 in †A. prisca, based on our study sample). (B) There are seven to nine procurrent epaxial caudal rays (versus five or six in †A. damoni, and three in †A. dolloi; the count in †A. prisca is unknown, and the count of †A. woodwardi is within the range of †A. lepidota). (C) There are 61-65 total centra and 48-52 total vertebrae in post-juvenile stages (versus 58-61 centra and 45-48 vertebrae in †A. woodwardi, 59-60 centra and 47 vertebrae in †A. damoni, 56-57 centra and 46 vertebrae in †A. dolloi, and 70-74 centra and 55-56 vertebrae in †A. prisca). (D) There are 17-19 dorsal proximal radials (versus 14-16 in †A. woodwardi, and 15-17 in †A. dolloi; †A. damoni and †A. prisca are within the range of †A. lepidota)."
Line drawing from Grande & Bemis 1998, p. 497:

References:
Kner, R. (1863). Über einige fossile Fische aus den Kreide- und Tertiärschichten von Comen und Podsused. Sitzungsberichte der Akademie der Wissenschaften in Wien mathematisch-naturwissenschaftliche Klasse 48:126-148.
Agassiz, L. (1833-1844). Recherches sur les Poissons Fossiles. 5 volumes plus supplement. Published by the author, printed by Petitpierre: Neuchâtel.
Jordan, D. S. (1919). New genera of fishes. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences.
Lambers, P. (1992). On the ichthyofauna of the Solnhofen Lithographic Limestone (Upper Jurassic, Germany). Doctoral thesis. Privately published, Ryksuniversiteit Groningen, 336 pp.
Lance Grande & William E. Bemis (1998) A Comprehensive Phylogenetic Study of Amiid Fishes (Amiidae) Based on Comparative Skeletal Anatomy. an Empirical Search for Interconnected Patterns of Natural History, Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 18:S1, 1-696, DOI: 10.1080/02724634.1998.10011114.