Kingdom Animalia Subphylum Vertebrata Higher classification Tetrapodomorpha | Phylum Chordata Subclass Tetrapodomorpha Rank Superorder | |
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Lower classifications Eusthenopteron, Osteolepis, Hyneria | ||
Osteolepidida, also known as osteolepiformes, are a group of prehistoric lobe-finned fishes which appears first time during the Devonian period. The order contains five families: Canowindridae, Megalichthyidae, Osteolepidae, Thysanolepidae and Tristichopteridae. The superorder is generally considered to be paraphyletic because the characters that define it are mainly attributes of stem tetrapodomorphs.
Below is a cladogram showing the paraphyly of Osteolepiformes compiled and modified from Ahlberg and Johanson (1998). See also Swartz 2012. The Osteolepiformes are marked by the green bracket.
References
Osteolepidida Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA