Actinopterygii

Actinopterygii, members of which are known as ray-finned fish or actinopterygians, is a class of bony fish that constitutes nearly 99% of the over 30,000 living species of fish. The vast majority of extant actinopterygian species are teleosts, and by species count they dominate the subphylum Vertebrata, comprising over 50% of all living vertebrates. They are the most abundant nektonic aquatic animals and are ubiquitous throughout freshwater, brackish and marine environments from the deep sea to subterranean waters to the highest mountain streams. Extant species can range in size from Paedocypris, at 8 mm (0.3 in), to the giant sunfish, at 2,700 kg (6,000 lb), and the giant oarfish, at 8 m (26 ft). The largest ever known ray-finned fish, the extinct Leedsichthys from the Jurassic, is estimated to have grown to 16.5 m (54 ft).

Actinopterygii

Stevenj NOAA Photo Library Pedro Lastra Gregory Moine Chmehl Jik jik Debra Becker WenOficial Springcold Hectonichus A… · CC BY-SA 4.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Also called
ray-finned fishPBDB
Sits inside
OsteichthyesPBDB
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Osteichthyes

Time the record covers

At least 413 million years on record.

The record covers at least 413.02 Mya to 11.7 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 419.62 Mya to 0 Mya.

Silurian — about 0 of 12000 occurrencesDevonian — about 6 of 12000 occurrencesDevonianCarboniferous — about 143 of 12000 occurrencesCarboniferousPermian — about 329 of 12000 occurrencesPermianEarly Triassic — about 320 of 12000 occurrencesMiddle Triassic — about 678 of 12000 occurrencesLate Triassic — about 718 of 12000 occurrencesLate TriassicEarly Jurassic — about 378 of 12000 occurrencesMiddle Jurassic — about 106 of 12000 occurrencesLate Jurassic — about 305 of 12000 occurrencesEarly Cretaceous — about 604 of 12000 occurrencesEarly CretaceousLate Cretaceous — about 2227 of 12000 occurrencesPaleocene — about 269 of 12000 occurrencesEocene — about 1522 of 12000 occurrencesOligocene — about 688 of 12000 occurrencesMiocene — about 2149 of 12000 occurrencesPliocene — about 590 of 12000 occurrencesPleistocene — about 886 of 12000 occurrences428–414 Mya — about 0.9 occurrences414–399 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences399–385 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences385–371 Mya — about 2 occurrences371–357 Mya — about 2 occurrences357–342 Mya — about 24 occurrences342–328 Mya — about 18 occurrences328–314 Mya — about 72 occurrences314–300 Mya — about 28 occurrences300–285 Mya — about 42 occurrences285–271 Mya — about 34 occurrences271–257 Mya — about 153 occurrences257–243 Mya — about 604 occurrences243–228 Mya — about 610 occurrences228–214 Mya — about 211 occurrences214–200 Mya — about 433 occurrences200–185 Mya — about 138 occurrences185–171 Mya — about 203 occurrences171–157 Mya — about 127 occurrences157–143 Mya — about 285 occurrences143–128 Mya — about 127 occurrences128–114 Mya — about 287 occurrences114–100 Mya — about 208 occurrences100–86 Mya — about 309 occurrences86–71 Mya — about 1245 occurrences71–57 Mya — about 900 occurrences57–43 Mya — about 1007 occurrences43–29 Mya — about 923 occurrences29–14 Mya — about 833 occurrences14–0 Mya — about 3172 occurrences413.02 Mya11.7 ka428 Mya0 Mya

12,000+ occurrences of Actinopterygii on record. The Paleobiology Database records this as a living group. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

12,000 occurrences read

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. The read hit its cap, so every figure above is a floor and the shares are of the occurrences read. More on what this infers.

Found in

at least 959 formations

Dinosaur Park — 50.81°N, 111.32°WDinosaur Park — 50.75°N, 111.40°WDinosaur Park — 50.81°N, 111.63°WDinosaur Park — 49.12°N, 110.47°WDinosaur Park — 50.75°N, 111.51°WDinosaur Park — 50.75°N, 111.46°WDinosaur Park — 49.96°N, 110.34°WHell Creek — 47.80°N, 106.10°WHell Creek — 47.68°N, 106.43°WHell Creek — 45.95°N, 103.96°WHell Creek — 46.10°N, 103.30°WHell Creek — 45.98°N, 103.75°WHell Creek — 46.18°N, 103.84°WHell Creek — 46.14°N, 103.80°WHell Creek — 46.41°N, 103.94°WHell Creek — 46.38°N, 103.96°WHell Creek — 46.46°N, 104.02°WHell Creek — 46.33°N, 103.90°WHell Creek — 45.94°N, 103.95°WHell Creek — 45.53°N, 101.63°WHell Creek — 47.88°N, 106.20°WHell Creek — 47.55°N, 107.13°WHell Creek — 47.62°N, 107.32°WHell Creek — 47.52°N, 106.98°WHell Creek — 47.57°N, 107.10°WHell Creek — 47.52°N, 106.40°WHell Creek — 47.58°N, 106.30°WHell Creek — 47.55°N, 107.25°WHell Creek — 47.52°N, 107.18°WHell Creek — 47.53°N, 106.92°WHell Creek — 47.07°N, 106.92°WHell Creek — 47.60°N, 107.23°WHell Creek — 46.90°N, 101.50°WHell Creek — 47.75°N, 106.20°WHell Creek — 47.61°N, 106.90°WHell Creek — 45.73°N, 104.89°WHell Creek — 47.60°N, 107.00°WHell Creek — 47.27°N, 107.13°WHell Creek — 46.41°N, 103.50°WHell Creek — 46.33°N, 103.98°WHell Creek — 45.66°N, 105.08°WOldman — 50.75°N, 111.51°WOldman — 49.10°N, 110.94°WOldman — 49.08°N, 110.84°WOldman — 49.08°N, 110.68°WOldman — 49.16°N, 110.72°WOldman — 50.83°N, 111.32°WKoobi Fora — 3.90°N, 36.24°EKoobi Fora — 3.98°N, 36.32°EKoobi Fora — 4.07°N, 36.37°EKoobi Fora — 4.22°N, 36.43°EKoobi Fora — 3.95°N, 36.42°EKoobi Fora — 3.87°N, 36.37°EKoobi Fora — 3.89°N, 36.29°EKoobi Fora — 3.75°N, 36.36°EKoobi Fora — 3.73°N, 36.43°EKoobi Fora — 3.70°N, 36.32°EKoobi Fora — 4.31°N, 36.28°EKoobi Fora — 4.31°N, 36.22°EKoobi Fora — 4.24°N, 36.28°EKoobi Fora — 4.06°N, 36.33°EKoobi Fora — 3.57°N, 36.33°EKoobi Fora — 3.59°N, 36.24°EKoobi Fora — 3.78°N, 36.33°EBesano — 45.91°N, 8.95°EBesano — 45.90°N, 8.96°ESelsey — 50.80°N, 1.21°WNkondo — 1.50°N, 31.00°EGatun — 9.35°N, 79.80°WGatun — 9.36°N, 79.84°WGatun — 9.33°N, 79.89°WLondon Clay — 51.40°N, 0.83°ELondon Clay — 50.83°N, 0.78°WLondon Clay — 51.85°N, 1.27°ELondon Clay — 51.51°N, 0.24°ELondon Clay — 51.54°N, 0.16°WLondon Clay — 51.37°N, 1.08°ELondon Clay — 50.78°N, 0.65°WRaz-el-Ain — 35.71°N, 0.64°WMonterey — 33.60°N, 117.70°WMonterey — 33.71°N, 118.31°WMonterey — 34.58°N, 120.34°WMonterey — 34.61°N, 120.44°WMonterey — 34.11°N, 118.42°WMonterey — 33.79°N, 117.81°WMonterey — 34.08°N, 118.17°WMonterey — 34.85°N, 120.42°WLance — 43.35°N, 104.48°WLance — 43.49°N, 104.46°WLance — 43.30°N, 104.37°WLance — 43.12°N, 104.64°WLance — 41.57°N, 108.67°WLance — 41.58°N, 108.65°WLance — 43.18°N, 104.53°WLance — 43.15°N, 104.57°WLance — 43.13°N, 104.49°WLance — 43.80°N, 104.62°WLance — 45.75°N, 101.20°WLance — 45.04°N, 108.80°WLance — 43.25°N, 104.65°WLance — 43.00°N, 104.50°WLance — 45.39°N, 103.70°WWillwood — 43.95°N, 107.57°WWillwood — 44.30°N, 109.00°WWillwood — 44.15°N, 107.86°WWillwood — 44.58°N, 108.90°WWillwood — 44.83°N, 109.09°WWillwood — 44.50°N, 108.67°WWillwood — 44.56°N, 108.70°WWillwood — 44.55°N, 108.63°WWillwood — 44.59°N, 108.41°WWillwood — 44.61°N, 108.50°WWillwood — 44.52°N, 108.58°WWillwood — 44.65°N, 108.90°WWillwood — 44.39°N, 108.71°WWillwood — 44.41°N, 108.79°WWillwood — 44.33°N, 108.77°WWillwood — 44.60°N, 108.79°WWillwood — 44.67°N, 108.80°WWillwood — 44.68°N, 108.75°WFerris — 41.94°N, 106.88°WFerris — 41.80°N, 107.00°WFerris — 41.96°N, 106.89°WYorktown — 35.36°N, 76.82°WElmore — 50.80°N, 1.20°WChinle — 34.51°N, 109.36°WChinle — 34.44°N, 109.46°WChinle — 36.32°N, 106.47°WChinle — 35.05°N, 109.83°WChinle — 35.84°N, 111.25°WChinle — 34.87°N, 109.80°WChinle — 37.05°N, 112.52°WChinle — 36.09°N, 111.36°WChinle — 35.65°N, 111.12°WChinle — 34.68°N, 109.58°WChinle — 38.28°N, 108.90°WChinle — 38.17°N, 109.23°WChinle — 38.13°N, 109.18°WRaisby — 54.69°N, 1.53°WRaisby — 54.63°N, 1.63°WRaisby — 54.85°N, 1.47°WRaisby — 55.05°N, 1.44°WRaisby — 54.62°N, 1.68°WRaisby — 54.65°N, 1.56°WRaisby — 54.93°N, 1.41°WRaisby — 54.52°N, 1.56°WPardonet — 56.13°N, 123.08°WPardonet — 56.08°N, 123.04°WPardonet — 56.10°N, 122.87°WPardonet — 56.48°N, 122.89°WPardonet — 56.10°N, 122.72°WPardonet — 56.02°N, 123.08°WPardonet — 56.07°N, 123.16°WMuschelkalk — 41.27°N, 1.12°EMuschelkalk — 41.80°N, 2.23°EMuschelkalk — 41.56°N, 1.90°EMuschelkalk — 41.12°N, 0.58°EMuschelkalk — 42.13°N, 1.46°EWestbury — 53.03°N, 0.81°WWestbury — 51.60°N, 2.63°WWestbury — 51.32°N, 2.97°WWestbury — 51.93°N, 2.23°WWestbury — 51.24°N, 2.34°WWestbury — 50.72°N, 3.05°WWestbury — 55.05°N, 6.95°WWestbury — 50.78°N, 2.99°WWestbury — 51.82°N, 2.41°WWestbury — 52.91°N, 0.90°WWestbury — 51.55°N, 2.40°WNachukui — 4.25°N, 35.79°ENachukui — 2.90°N, 36.05°EYazoo — 31.66°N, 92.90°WYazoo — 31.82°N, 92.33°WYazoo — 31.93°N, 88.46°WYazoo — 32.07°N, 88.96°WYazoo — 31.93°N, 91.94°WMooreville Chalk — 32.76°N, 88.02°WMooreville Chalk — 32.96°N, 88.13°WMooreville Chalk — 32.60°N, 87.68°WMooreville Chalk — 32.84°N, 87.89°WMooreville Chalk — 33.12°N, 88.26°WMooreville Chalk — 32.85°N, 88.04°WMooreville Chalk — 32.32°N, 86.46°WMooreville Chalk — 31.91°N, 87.87°WMooreville Chalk — 32.94°N, 88.06°WMooreville Chalk — 32.44°N, 87.24°W

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Actinopterygii has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. The read hit its cap, so each count is a floor. 935 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 3,723 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Found in the same rock

2,041 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records at least 629 sites for Actinopterygii, and this reads 240 of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

at least 1,884 references

Each of the 12,000 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. That read hit its cap, so each count is a floor. 1,872 further references are not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content3

Picture of Actinopterygii

Credit
Stevenj NOAA Photo Library Pedro Lastra Gregory Moine Chmehl Jik jik Debra Becker WenOficial Springcold Hectonichus A…
Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

CT scan

Licence
not stated by the source
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record
Specimen
Actinopterygii indet. · ZPAL:v.39:P.22/Om/9

3D model

Source
Sketchfab
Licence
CC Attribution
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itOsteichthyes through timeThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. (Cope 1887)