Cichlidae

Cichlids are a large, diverse, and widespread family of percomorph fish in the family Cichlidae, order Cichliformes. At least 1,760 species have been scientifically described, making it one of the largest vertebrate families, with only the Cyprinidae being more speciose. New species are discovered annually, and many species remain undescribed. The actual number of species is therefore unknown, with estimates varying between 2,000 and 3,000. They are native to the Neotropics, Africa, the Middle East, and the Indian subcontinent, although some species have been introduced worldwide.

Cichlidae

Photograph by Mike Peel ( www.mikepeel.net ). · 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
cichlidPBDB
Sits inside
CichliformesPBDB
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Osteichthyes
Environment
freshwaterPBDB

Time the record covers

At least 41 million years on record.

The record covers at least 41.03 Mya to 11.7 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 56 Mya to 0 Mya.

Paleocene — about 0 of 63 occurrencesEocene — about 4 of 63 occurrencesEoceneOligocene — about 3 of 63 occurrencesOligoceneMiocene — about 20 of 63 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 16 of 63 occurrencesPleistocene — about 19 of 63 occurrences57–55 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences55–53 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences53–51 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences51–50 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences50–48 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences48–46 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences46–44 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences44–42 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences42–40 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences40–38 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences38–36 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences36–34 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences34–32 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences32–30 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences30–29 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences29–27 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences27–25 Mya — about 0.9 occurrences25–23 Mya — about 0.9 occurrences23–21 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences21–19 Mya — about 1 occurrence19–17 Mya — about 1 occurrence17–15 Mya — about 2 occurrences15–13 Mya — about 4 occurrences13–11 Mya — about 4 occurrences11–9.5 Mya — about 2 occurrences9.5–7.6 Mya — about 2 occurrences7.6–5.7 Mya — about 4 occurrences5.7–3.8 Mya — about 8 occurrences3.8–1.9 Mya — about 16 occurrences1.9–0 Mya — about 13 occurrences41.03 Mya11.7 ka57 Mya0 Mya

63 occurrences of Cichlidae 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

63 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

23 formations

Nkondo — 1.50°N, 31.00°EKoobi Fora — 4.31°N, 36.28°EKoobi Fora — 4.28°N, 36.24°EKoobi Fora — 4.06°N, 36.33°EKoobi Fora — 3.59°N, 36.24°EKoobi Fora — 4.07°N, 36.37°ENachukui — 4.27°N, 35.82°ENachukui — 2.90°N, 36.05°EWembere-Manonga — 3.88°S, 33.72°EWembere-Manonga — 3.88°S, 33.97°EWembere-Manonga — 3.98°S, 33.96°EOlduvai — 2.98°S, 35.37°EOlduvai — 2.99°S, 35.33°EShungura — 5.08°N, 36.03°ENyabusosi — 1.00°N, 30.50°EWarwire — 1.50°N, 31.00°ENgorora — 0.90°N, 35.85°EOlorgesailie — 1.57°S, 36.43°EMaboko — 0.17°N, 34.62°ELumbrera — 25.27°S, 65.82°WLukeino — 0.50°N, 35.67°ELusso Beds — 0.03°N, 29.62°EKakara — 1.00°N, 30.50°EWare — 11.85°N, 71.32°WLokone Sandstone — 2.22°N, 35.57°EChambira — 7.32°S, 74.93°WAshawaq — 17.00°N, 53.00°EVillavieja — 3.22°N, 75.14°WSan Gregorio — 11.30°N, 70.24°WColombacci — 44.22°N, 11.77°EPebas — 3.74°S, 73.25°W

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The named rock units Cichlidae has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 15 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Cichlidae and its relatives

Miocene

Where Cichlidae and its relatives were recorded in the Miocene.

Found in the same rock

759 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 61 sites for Cichlidae, 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

46 references

Each of the 63 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. 34 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 Cichlidae

Credit
Photograph by Mike Peel ( www.mikepeel.net ).
Licence
CC BY-SA 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 itCichliformes through timeFormations of the MioceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Heckel 1840