Characoidei

Characiformes is an order of ray-finned fish, comprising the characins and their allies. Grouped in 18 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.

Characoidei

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
CharaciformesPBDB
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Osteichthyes
Environment
freshwaterPBDB, for Characiformes

Time the record covers

At least 64 million years on record.

The record covers at least 66 Mya to 1.8 Mya. No occurrence read is dated outside 72.2 Mya to 11.7 ka.

Late Cretaceous — about 3 of 206 occurrencesLate CretaceousPaleocene — about 4 of 206 occurrencesPaleoceneEocene — about 21 of 206 occurrencesEoceneOligocene — about 32 of 206 occurrencesOligoceneMiocene — about 77 of 206 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 42 of 206 occurrencesPleistocene — about 28 of 206 occurrences74–71 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences71–69 Mya — about 1 occurrence69–66 Mya — about 1 occurrence66–64 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences64–61 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences61–59 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences59–56 Mya — about 2 occurrences56–54 Mya — about 1.0 occurrences54–52 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences52–49 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences49–47 Mya — about 2 occurrences47–44 Mya — about 3 occurrences44–42 Mya — about 3 occurrences42–39 Mya — about 3 occurrences39–37 Mya — about 3 occurrences37–34 Mya — about 4 occurrences34–32 Mya — about 6 occurrences32–29 Mya — about 7 occurrences29–27 Mya — about 7 occurrences27–25 Mya — about 8 occurrences25–22 Mya — about 6 occurrences22–20 Mya — about 5 occurrences20–17 Mya — about 7 occurrences17–15 Mya — about 9 occurrences15–12 Mya — about 17 occurrences12–9.8 Mya — about 16 occurrences9.8–7.4 Mya — about 13 occurrences7.4–4.9 Mya — about 15 occurrences4.9–2.5 Mya — about 40 occurrences2.5–0 Mya — about 25 occurrences66 Mya1.8 Mya74 Mya0 Mya

206 occurrences of Characoidei 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

206 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

37 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°ENachukui — 4.25°N, 35.79°ENachukui — 2.90°N, 36.05°EChambira — 7.32°S, 74.93°WChambira — 7.35°S, 74.96°WNyaburogo — 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°WItuzaingo — 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°ELusso Beds — 0.03°N, 29.62°ESan Gregorio — 11.30°N, 70.24°WShungura — 5.08°N, 36.03°ENyabusosi — 1.00°N, 30.50°EWembere-Manonga — 3.88°S, 33.72°ENawata — 2.90°N, 36.05°EKakara — 1.00°N, 30.50°EEl Molino — 17.69°S, 65.94°WMuñani — 15.73°S, 70.17°WMonte Hermoso — 38.97°S, 61.70°WLokone Sandstone — 2.22°N, 35.57°E

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Characoidei has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 13 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 12 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Characoidei and its relatives

Miocene

Where Characoidei and its relatives were recorded in the Miocene.

Found in the same rock

1,402 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 131 sites for Characoidei, 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

60 references

Each of the 206 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. 48 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 Characoidei

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 was found. Smithsonian Open Access, MorphoSource and Sketchfab were all searched.

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 itCharaciformes through timeFormations of the MioceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0.