Cladistia

Senegal Flösselhecht

The Cladistia are a group of primitive bony fish are placed in the two families, the fossil, known only from the Mississippian of Montana Guildayichthyidae and the recent bichirs ( Polypteridae ).

Features

The Cladistia have a separate Rostralknochen ( rostral ) to the tip of the upper jaw. The following bones are paired. The maxilla is narrow behind. Mean Kehl bone missing, the side are expanded.

The parasphenoid ( a bone of the skull) is elongated along the skull. The clavicle is absent or reduced. The pectoral fins are sitting on an elongated lobe, similar to the coelacanth. The internal anatomy of the lobe, however, is quite different from that of the coelacanth and justified with no close relationship. The caudal fin is heterocercal, but outwardly rounded.