Semionotiformes

Semionotiformes is an order of ray-finned fish known from the Middle Triassic (Anisian) to the Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian). It is the sister group to Lepisosteiformes, the order containing fish such as Lepidotes and Gars. The group includes both freshwater (Semionotidae) and marine adapted forms. Many members of the family Macrosemiidae, had elongated dorsal fins, often associated with an adjacent area of skin which was free of scales. These fins were likely undulated for use in precision swimming. The body morphology of macrosemiids suggests that they were slow swimmers who were capable of maneuvering around complex topography, such as reef environments.

Semionotiformes

Ghedoghedo · 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
GinglymodiPBDB
Diet
durophage, carnivorePBDB
Life habit
nektonicPBDB
Motility
actively mobilePBDB

Time the record covers

At least 194 million years on record.

The record covers at least 266.9 Mya to 72.2 Mya. No occurrence read is dated outside 277.3 Mya to 66 Mya.

Permian — about 31 of 624 occurrencesPermianEarly Triassic — about 7 of 624 occurrencesMiddle Triassic — about 29 of 624 occurrencesLate Triassic — about 174 of 624 occurrencesLate TriassicEarly Jurassic — about 63 of 624 occurrencesEarly JurassicMiddle Jurassic — about 41 of 624 occurrencesLate Jurassic — about 86 of 624 occurrencesLate JurassicEarly Cretaceous — about 155 of 624 occurrencesEarly CretaceousLate Cretaceous — about 39 of 624 occurrencesLate CretaceousPaleocene — about 0 of 624 occurrences282–274 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences274–267 Mya — about 6 occurrences267–260 Mya — about 1 occurrence260–252 Mya — about 23 occurrences252–245 Mya — about 14 occurrences245–238 Mya — about 20 occurrences238–230 Mya — about 8 occurrences230–223 Mya — about 12 occurrences223–216 Mya — about 17 occurrences216–208 Mya — about 52 occurrences208–201 Mya — about 91 occurrences201–194 Mya — about 25 occurrences194–186 Mya — about 4 occurrences186–179 Mya — about 22 occurrences179–172 Mya — about 10 occurrences172–164 Mya — about 31 occurrences164–157 Mya — about 16 occurrences157–150 Mya — about 25 occurrences150–142 Mya — about 56 occurrences142–135 Mya — about 20 occurrences135–128 Mya — about 15 occurrences128–120 Mya — about 51 occurrences120–113 Mya — about 28 occurrences113–106 Mya — about 25 occurrences106–98 Mya — about 21 occurrences98–91 Mya — about 17 occurrences91–84 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences84–76 Mya — about 3 occurrences76–69 Mya — about 6 occurrences69–62 Mya — about 4 occurrences266.9 Mya72.2 Mya282 Mya62 Mya

624 occurrences of Semionotiformes on record, most of them in the Late Triassic. 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

624 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

203 formations

Chinle — 34.44°N, 109.46°WChinle — 35.84°N, 111.25°WChinle — 36.33°N, 106.47°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 — 38.13°N, 109.18°WChinle — 38.17°N, 109.23°WChinle — 38.28°N, 108.90°WWestbury — 53.03°N, 0.81°WWestbury — 51.60°N, 2.63°WWestbury — 51.24°N, 2.34°WWestbury — 50.78°N, 2.99°WWestbury — 52.91°N, 0.90°WWestbury — 51.55°N, 2.40°WWestbury — 51.82°N, 2.41°WWestbury — 51.18°N, 3.38°WRaisby — 54.63°N, 1.61°WRaisby — 54.95°N, 1.45°WRaisby — 54.85°N, 1.47°WRaisby — 54.65°N, 1.56°WRaisby — 54.69°N, 1.52°WRaisby — 54.93°N, 1.41°WRaisby — 54.63°N, 1.66°WTendaguru — 9.71°S, 39.23°ECalcare di Zorzino — 45.82°N, 9.60°ECalcare di Zorzino — 45.79°N, 9.68°ESolnhofen — 48.91°N, 11.14°ESolnhofen — 48.94°N, 8.41°ESolnhofen — 48.90°N, 11.18°EBoonton — 40.90°N, 74.40°WAïn el Guettar — 33.17°N, 10.26°EAïn el Guettar — 32.68°N, 10.17°EAïn el Guettar — 32.82°N, 10.25°EAïn el Guettar — 32.27°N, 10.33°EPaluxy — 32.00°N, 98.25°WPaluxy — 33.15°N, 97.57°WPaluxy — 33.08°N, 97.64°WPaluxy — 31.70°N, 98.51°WPaluxy — 32.95°N, 97.69°WPaluxy — 33.50°N, 97.50°WLa Huérguina — 40.06°N, 1.88°WLa Huérguina — 40.12°N, 1.97°WLourinhã — 39.45°N, 9.21°WLourinhã — 39.24°N, 9.34°WLourinhã — 39.85°N, 8.62°WEl Castellar — 40.67°N, 0.67°WEl Castellar — 40.58°N, 0.69°WEl Castellar — 40.62°N, 0.84°WEl Castellar — 40.46°N, 0.74°WEl Castellar — 40.44°N, 0.73°WRedonda — 34.94°N, 103.43°WRedonda — 35.00°N, 103.67°WRedonda — 34.98°N, 103.33°WLockatong — 40.77°N, 74.02°WLockatong — 40.20°N, 75.27°WOxford Clay — 51.75°N, 1.18°WOxford Clay — 52.57°N, 0.23°WOxford Clay — 51.50°N, 2.06°WMuschelkalk — 41.27°N, 1.12°EIsalo IIIb — 16.55°S, 46.98°EHauptdolomit — 47.73°N, 13.14°EArcillas de Morella — 40.49°N, 0.42°EArcillas de Morella — 40.62°N, 0.10°WDouiret — 32.87°N, 10.38°EDouiret — 32.82°N, 10.25°EDouiret — 32.69°N, 10.26°EDouiret — 32.17°N, 10.40°EDouiret — 33.11°N, 10.33°ETerrigal — 33.43°S, 151.34°ECloverly — 44.51°N, 107.90°WCloverly — 44.50°N, 107.82°WCloverly — 44.44°N, 109.06°WBrejo Santo — 7.25°S, 39.12°WBrejo Santo — 7.50°S, 39.00°WBrejo Santo — 7.17°S, 39.31°WHythe — 51.24°N, 0.05°W

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Semionotiformes has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 179 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 140 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Semionotiformes and its relatives

Late Triassic

Where Semionotiformes and its relatives were recorded in the Late Triassic.

Found in the same rock

2,008 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 509 sites for Semionotiformes, 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

313 references

Each of the 624 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. 301 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 Semionotiformes

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

No 3D scan of Semionotiformes 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 itGinglymodi through timeFormations of the Late TriassicThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Arambourg and Bertin 1958