Diodontidae

Porcupinefishes are medium-to-large fish belonging to the family Diodontidae from the order Tetraodontiformes which are also commonly called blowfishes and, sometimes, balloonfishes and globefishes. The family includes about 18 species. They are sometimes collectively called pufferfishes, not to be confused with the morphologically similar and closely related Tetraodontidae, which are more commonly given this name.

Diodontidae

Diego Delso · 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
Sits inside
TetraodontoideiPBDB
Diet
carnivorePBDB, for Tetraodontiformes
Life habit
nektonicPBDB, for Tetraodontiformes
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Tetraodontiformes

Time the record covers

At least 55 million years on record.

The record covers at least 56 Mya to 11.7 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 59.24 Mya to 0 Mya.

Paleocene — about 1 of 92 occurrencesEocene — about 28 of 92 occurrencesEoceneOligocene — about 4 of 92 occurrencesOligoceneMiocene — about 36 of 92 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 9 of 92 occurrencesPleistocene — about 8 of 92 occurrences60–58 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences58–56 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences56–54 Mya — about 3 occurrences54–52 Mya — about 3 occurrences52–50 Mya — about 3 occurrences50–48 Mya — about 3 occurrences48–46 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences42–40 Mya — about 2 occurrences40–38 Mya — about 4 occurrences38–36 Mya — about 5 occurrences36–34 Mya — about 5 occurrences34–32 Mya — about 1 occurrence32–30 Mya — about 1 occurrence30–28 Mya — about 0.9 occurrences28–26 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences26–24 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences24–22 Mya — about 1 occurrence22–20 Mya — about 3 occurrences20–18 Mya — about 4 occurrences18–16 Mya — about 4 occurrences16–14 Mya — about 5 occurrences14–12 Mya — about 3 occurrences12–10 Mya — about 4 occurrences10–8.1 Mya — about 4 occurrences8.1–6.0 Mya — about 6 occurrences6.0–4.0 Mya — about 9 occurrences4.0–2.0 Mya — about 4 occurrences2.0–0 Mya — about 12 occurrences56 Mya11.7 ka60 Mya0 Mya

92 occurrences of Diodontidae 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

92 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

47 formations

Cluj Limestone — 46.75°N, 23.48°ECluj Limestone — 47.08°N, 22.90°ECluj Limestone — 42.25°N, 23.32°EBermont — 27.70°N, 82.50°WPirabas — 1.18°S, 47.22°WPirabas — 0.48°S, 48.17°WPirabas — 0.63°S, 47.54°WGosport Sand — 31.53°N, 87.57°WGosport Sand — 31.50°N, 87.80°WGosport Sand — 31.50°N, 88.50°WBolognano — 42.24°N, 14.04°ECaujarao — 11.50°N, 69.52°WSubathu — 30.98°N, 76.98°EJaffna — 8.28°N, 79.82°ETamiami — 26.72°N, 81.67°WLoxton — 34.15°S, 139.91°EPort Campbell Limestone — 37.72°S, 141.93°EFyansford — 38.18°S, 144.50°EAlachua — 29.55°N, 82.52°WJaffna Limestone — 8.26°N, 79.84°EYorktown — 35.36°N, 76.82°WPungo River — 35.40°N, 76.80°WGosport — 31.50°N, 87.90°WCoosawatchie — 33.10°N, 80.40°WBone Valley — 27.90°N, 81.80°WBaripada Limestone — 21.93°N, 86.72°EChandler Bridge — 33.03°N, 80.27°WYazoo — 31.93°N, 91.94°WMoodys Branch — 32.90°N, 90.19°WRosarito Beach — 32.12°N, 116.80°W

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The named rock units Diodontidae has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 23 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 34 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Diodontidae and its relatives

Miocene

Where Diodontidae and its relatives were recorded in the Miocene.

Found in the same rock

2,508 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 79 sites for Diodontidae, 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

63 references

Each of the 92 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. 51 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 Diodontidae

Credit
Diego Delso
Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

No 3D scan of Diodontidae was found in Sketchfab.

Smithsonian Open Access and MorphoSource were 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 itTetraodontoidei through timeFormations of the MioceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Billberg 1833