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Fossil catfishes of the families Doradidae and Pimelodidae (Teleostei, Siluriformes) from the Miocene Urumaco Formation of Venezuela
Journal article   Peer reviewed

Fossil catfishes of the families Doradidae and Pimelodidae (Teleostei, Siluriformes) from the Miocene Urumaco Formation of Venezuela

Mark H. Sabaj Perez, Orangel A. Aguilera S. and John G. Lundberg
Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, v 156(1), pp 157-194
Jun 2007

Abstract

Actinopterygii Cenozoic Chordata Doradidae Doraops zuloagi Doras dioneae El Hatillo Venezuela Falcon Venezuela faunal studies Miocene morphology Neogene new taxa Osteichthyes Pimelodidae Pisces Platysilurus Rhinodoras thomersoni Siluriformes skeletons South America taxonomy Teleostei Tertiary Urumaco Formation Venezuela Vertebrata Vertebrate paleontology
Four taxa are added to the fossil history of catfishes based on new identifications and descriptions of material from the Miocene Urumaco Formation in northwestern Venezuela. Three of the fossil catfishes belong to the family Doradidae (thorny catfishes); one, Doras dioneae, represents a new species, the first fossil doradid to be formally named, and the other two, Doraops cf. zuloagai and Rhinodoras cf. thomersoni, are referred to modern taxa endemic to the Maracaibo basin. The fourth fossil catfish belongs to the family Pimelodidae (long-whiskered catfishes) and is assigned to Platysilurus, a modern genus that occurs in the Maracaibo, Orinoco, Amazon, and large rivers of the Guianas. These fossil taxa inhabited the paleo-Amazon-Orinoco, a large ancient river system that drained the South American continent northward prior to the uplift of the Eastern Andes and Coastal Cordilleras and concomitant isolation of the Maracaibo basin in the Late Miocene (ca. 8 Ma).

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Collaboration types
International collaboration
Web of Science research areas
Biodiversity Conservation
Ecology
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