Halecomorphi

Halecomorphi is a taxon of bony fishes in the clade Neopterygii. The sole living Halecomorph is the bowfin (Amia calva), but the group contains many extinct species in several families, including Amiidae, Caturidae, Liodesmidae, Sinamiidae, and the orders Ionoscopiformes, and Parasemionotiformes). The Halecomorphi exhibit a combination of ancestral features, such as most heavily mineralized scales, but also by more derived or "modern" features, particularly in the structure of the skull (e.g. position and shape of preopercles).

Unique derived traits (synapomorphies) of the Halecomorphi include:

On the systematic position of the Halecomorphi are two competing hypotheses: