A review of Australia’s Mesozoic fishes

The Australian Mesozoic fish fauna is considered to be depauperate in comparison with fish faunas in the Northern Hemisphere. However, due to its geographical location as a potential radiation center in the Southern Hemisphere, Australia’s Mesozoic fish fauna is important for understanding fish radiations. Most of the modern fish groups originated during the Mesozoic, but the first records of a modern fish fauna (freshwater and marine) in Australia does not occur until the lower Paleogene. Here, we review all known fossil fish-bearing localities from the Mesozoic of Australia, to improve the understanding of the record. The apparent low Australian Mesozoic fish diversity is likely due to its understudied status of the constituent fossils rather than to a depauperate record. In addition, we review recent work with the aim of placing the Australian Mesozoic fish fauna in a global context. We review the taxonomy of Australian fossil fishes and conclude that the assignments of many actinopterygians need major revision within a modern phylogenetic context. The vast majority of chondrichthyans are yet to be formally described; to the contrary all of the known lungfish specimens have been described. This study considers the microscopic and fragmented remains of Mesozoic fish already found in Australia, allowing a more complete view of the diversity of the fishes that once inhabited this continent. Rodney W. Berrell [[e-mail]], School of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Curtin University, Kent Street, Bentley, Western Australia, 6102, Australia; Catherine Boisvert [[e-mail]], School of Molecular and Life Sciences (MLS), Curtin University, Kent Street, Bentley, Western Australia, 6102, Australia; Kate Trinajstic [[e-mail]], School of Molecular and Life Sciences (MLS), Curtin University, Kent Street, Bentley, Western Australia, 6102, Australia; Mikael Siversson# [[e-mail]], Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Western Australian Museum, 49 Kew Street, Welshpool, Western Australia, 6106, Australia; Jesús Alvarado-Ortega [[e-mail]], Instituto Geologia Cd universitaria, Circuito de la investigacion, Del. coyoacan, C.P. 04510, Ciudad de México, México; Lionel Cavin [[e-mail]], Section of Earth Sciences, Muséum d’Histoire naturelle de la Ville de Genèeve, CP 6434, 1211 Genève 6, Switzerland; Steven W. Salisbury [[e-mail]], School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane St Lucia, Queensland, 4072, Australia; Anne Kemp [[e-mail]], 9 Hampton Grove, Norwood, Adelaide, South Australia 5067, Australia. #Also affiliated with: School of Molecular and Life Sciences, Curtin University, Kent Street, Bentley, WA 6102, Australia.

相较于北半球的鱼类动物群，澳大利亚中生代鱼类动物群被认为物种相对贫乏。然而，由于其地处南半球潜在的演化辐射中心的地理位置，澳大利亚中生代鱼类动物群对于理解鱼类演化辐射具有重要意义。绝大多数现生鱼类类群起源于中生代，但澳大利亚现代鱼类动物群（涵盖淡水与海洋类群）的首个化石记录直至古近纪早期才出现。本文综述了澳大利亚境内所有已知的中生代产鱼化石地点，以增进对该区域化石记录的认知。澳大利亚中生代鱼类多样性看似偏低，其根源更可能是相关化石的研究程度不足，而非化石记录本身物种贫乏。此外，本文综述了近期相关研究成果，旨在将澳大利亚中生代鱼类动物群置于全球演化框架下展开探讨。本文梳理了澳大利亚化石鱼类的分类学研究现状，指出在现代系统发育框架下，多数辐鳍鱼（Actinopterygii）的分类归属亟需进行大幅修订。绝大多数软骨鱼（Chondrichthyes）类群尚未被正式描述；与之相反，所有已知的肺鱼标本均已完成正式描述。本研究整合了澳大利亚境内已发现的中生代鱼类微观、破碎化石遗存，从而能够更全面地认知曾栖息于该大陆的鱼类多样性。罗德尼·W·贝雷尔 [[e-mail]]，科廷大学地球与行星科学学院，肯特街，本特利，西澳大利亚州 6102，澳大利亚；凯瑟琳·布瓦韦尔 [[e-mail]]，科廷大学分子与生命科学学院（MLS），肯特街，本特利，西澳大利亚州 6102，澳大利亚；凯特·特里纳吉斯蒂克 [[e-mail]]，科廷大学分子与生命科学学院（MLS），肯特街，本特利，西澳大利亚州 6102，澳大利亚；米凯尔·西韦尔松 [[e-mail]]，西澳大利亚博物馆地球与行星科学系，基尤街49号，威尔士普尔，西澳大利亚州 6106，澳大利亚；# 同时隶属于科廷大学分子与生命科学学院，肯特街，本特利，西澳大利亚州 6102，澳大利亚；赫苏斯·阿尔瓦拉多-奥尔特加 [[e-mail]]，墨西哥国立自治大学地质研究所，大学城校区，研究环路，科约阿坎区，邮政代码04510，墨西哥城，墨西哥；莱昂内尔·卡万 [[e-mail]]，日内瓦市自然历史博物馆地球科学部，CP 6434，日内瓦6区，1211，瑞士；史蒂文·W·索尔兹伯里 [[e-mail]]，昆士兰大学生物科学学院，布里斯班圣卢西亚，昆士兰州 4072，澳大利亚；安妮·坎普 [[e-mail]]，9号汉普顿格罗夫，诺伍德，阿德莱德，南澳大利亚州 5067，澳大利亚。