First record of Saurichthys (Actinopterygii: Saurichthyidae) from the Late Triassic of eastern Paleo-Tethys

摘要: The saurichthyiform fishes, characterized by a pointed rostrum and a streamlined long and slender body plan, ranked among the top predators of the ichthyofauna in the Early Mesozoic oceanic ecosystem. In a cosmopolitan pattern, these fishes rapidly radiated after the end-Permian mass extinction (EPME) and diversified morphologically and ecologically during the Middle Triassic. Thereafter, they seemingly showed a notable shrinkage from a global distribution to an occurrence basically restricted to the western Paleo-Tethys realm since the Late Triassic. Specifically, there is no saurichthyiform fossil record so far from the marine Late Triassic of South China (eastern Paleo-Tethys), where contrastingly they were highly diversified in stratigraphically older Lagerstätten (Middle Triassic Panxian-Luoping and Xingyi biotas). Here we report the discovery of Saurichthys taotie sp. nov. from the Guanling biota of Guizhou and Yunnan provinces, southwestern China. This new species is a medium-sized Saurichthys featured by subtriangular subopercles ornamented with densely arranged vertical striae, faint ornamentation on the posterior part of the skull roof, and strong longitudinal ridges decorating the anterodorsal surface of the rostrum. By marking its own group’s first occurrence in the Late Triassic of eastern Paleo-Tethyan province, Saurichthys taotie suggests that the saurichthyiform fishes were actually much more widespread than previously thought during that geological stage when they showed a considerable decline in the diversity. By still possessing some features previously only seen in its Early Triassic congeners elsewhere, Saurichthys taotie sheds new light on the evolutionary and paleobiogeographical history of saurichthyiform fishes.