Freshwater gobies 30 million years ago: New insights into character evolution and phylogenetic relationships of †Pirskeniidae (Gobioidei, Teleostei).

ABSTRACT: The modern Gobioidei (Teleostei) comprise eight families, but the extinct †Pirskeniidae from the lower Oligocene of the Czech Republic indicate that further families may have existed in the past. However, the validity of the †Pirskeniidae has been questioned and its single genus †Pirskenius has been assigned to the extant family Eleotridae in previous works. The objective of this study is to clarify the status of the †Pirskeniidae. Whether or not the †Pirskeniidae should be synonymised with the Eleotridae is also interesting from a biogeographical point of view as Eleotridae is not present in Europe or the Mediterranean Sea today. We present new specimens and re-examine the material on which the two known species of †Pirskenius are based (†P. diatomaceus Obrhelová, 1961; †P. radoni Přikryl

SUBMITTER: Reichenbacher B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7446829 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature