Characiformes

Characiformes is an order of ray-finned fish, comprising the characins and their allies. Grouped in 28 recognized families, more than 2000 different species are described, including the well-known piranha and tetras. Characins are most diverse in the Neotropics, where they are found in lakes and rivers throughout most of South and Central America. At least 209 species of characins are found in Africa, including the distichodontids, citharinids, alestids, and hepsetids. The rest of the characins originate in the Americas.

Characiformes

Ribeiro, Douglas de Castro; Chagas, Jumma Miranda Araújo; Thereza, Mariana Ribeiro; Langeani, Francisco · CC BY 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
Sits inside
OtophysaPBDB
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Osteichthyes
Environment
freshwaterPBDB

Time the record covers

At least 70 million years on record.

The record covers at least 72.2 Mya to 1.8 Mya. No occurrence read is dated outside 83.6 Mya to 11.7 ka.

Late Cretaceous — about 9 of 280 occurrencesLate CretaceousPaleocene — about 6 of 280 occurrencesPaleoceneEocene — about 34 of 280 occurrencesEoceneOligocene — about 53 of 280 occurrencesOligoceneMiocene — about 103 of 280 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 45 of 280 occurrencesPleistocene — about 31 of 280 occurrences85–82 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences82–80 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences80–77 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences77–74 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences74–71 Mya — about 2 occurrences71–68 Mya — about 3 occurrences68–65 Mya — about 2 occurrences65–63 Mya — about 2 occurrences63–60 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences60–57 Mya — about 2 occurrences57–54 Mya — about 1 occurrence54–51 Mya — about 1 occurrence51–48 Mya — about 1 occurrence48–45 Mya — about 6 occurrences45–43 Mya — about 6 occurrences43–40 Mya — about 6 occurrences40–37 Mya — about 6 occurrences37–34 Mya — about 7 occurrences34–31 Mya — about 13 occurrences31–28 Mya — about 13 occurrences28–26 Mya — about 14 occurrences26–23 Mya — about 14 occurrences23–20 Mya — about 7 occurrences20–17 Mya — about 12 occurrences17–14 Mya — about 15 occurrences14–11 Mya — about 25 occurrences11–8.5 Mya — about 22 occurrences8.5–5.7 Mya — about 20 occurrences5.7–2.8 Mya — about 41 occurrences2.8–0 Mya — about 36 occurrences72.2 Mya1.8 Mya85 Mya0 Mya

280 occurrences of Characiformes on record, most of them in the Miocene. 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

280 occurrences

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. More on what this infers.

Found in

44 formations

Pozo — 7.33°S, 74.95°WPozo — 7.33°S, 74.95°WPozo — 6.57°S, 76.27°WPebas — 7.36°S, 74.96°WPebas — 3.74°S, 73.25°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, 36.22°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°ENkondo — 1.50°N, 31.00°EChambira — 7.32°S, 74.93°WChambira — 7.35°S, 74.96°WNachukui — 4.25°N, 35.79°ENachukui — 2.90°N, 36.05°ENyaburogo — 1.00°N, 30.50°EVillavieja — 3.25°N, 75.22°WVillavieja — 3.23°N, 75.14°WWarwire — 1.50°N, 31.00°EWare — 11.85°N, 71.32°WLusso Beds — 0.03°N, 29.62°EKakara — 1.00°N, 30.50°EItuzaingo — 31.48°S, 60.23°WItuzaingo — 31.68°S, 60.42°WItuzaingo — 31.63°S, 60.33°WCastilletes — 11.95°N, 71.27°WNyakabingo — 1.00°N, 30.50°ENawata — 2.90°N, 36.05°ESanta Lucía — 18.03°S, 65.58°WLokone Sandstone — 2.22°N, 35.57°ESan Gregorio — 11.30°N, 70.24°WMaradah — 28.58°N, 19.90°EShungura — 5.08°N, 36.03°ENyabusosi — 1.00°N, 30.50°EWembere-Manonga — 3.88°S, 33.72°EEl Molino — 17.69°S, 65.94°W

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Characiformes has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 20 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 16 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Characiformes and its relatives

Miocene

Where Characiformes and its relatives were recorded in the Miocene.

Found in the same rock

1,593 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 142 sites for Characiformes, and this reads all 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

69 references

Each of the 280 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. 57 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 content1

Picture of Characiformes

Credit
Ribeiro, Douglas de Castro; Chagas, Jumma Miranda Araújo; Thereza, Mariana Ribeiro; Langeani, Francisco
Licence
CC BY 4.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

No 3D scan of Characiformes was found in MorphoSource and Sketchfab.

Smithsonian Open Access was not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

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 itOtophysa through timeFormations of the MioceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Regan 1911