Redescription of †Paralycoptera wui Chang & Chou, 1977 (Teleostei: Osteoglossoidei) from the Early Cretaceous of eastern China GUANG-HUI XU 1,2 and MEE-MANN CHANG 1,2 * 1 Institute of Vertebrate Palaeontology and Palaeoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, P.O. Box 643, Beijing 100044, China 2 School of Earth and Space Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China Received 28 February 2008; accepted for publication 3 October 2008 †Paralycoptera wui Chang & Chou, 1977 from the Early Cretaceous of China is redescribed herein through a re-examination of the original materials, as well as observations on some newly collected specimens. The use of the peeling method has revealed much of the new or revised information on its osteology, e.g. aspects of the nasal, infraorbitals, retroarticular, preopercle, extrascapular, basihyal toothplate, epineural, pelvic fin, caudal skeleton and scales. The phylogenetic relationships of †Paralycoptera and other osteoglossomorphs are re-evaluated. The cladistic analysis largely agrees with the previous hypothesis that †Paralycoptera is not a †lycopterid, but rather a stem osteoglossoid. †Paralycoptera is excluded from notopteroids and exhibits the following derived characters of the Osteoglossoidei: (1) palatal area behind and below orbit completely covered by infraorbitals; (2) jaw articulation under posterior portion of orbit; (3) opercle depth twice or more its width; (4) first pectoral fin ray much enlarged and long, extending posteriorly beyond origin of pelvic fin. †Singida and †Phareodus are regarded as different levels of osteoglossoids above †Paralycoptera.†Singida shares the following derived characters with †Phareodus plus extant osteoglossoids: (1) jaw articulation posterior to orbit; (2) anterior process of hyomandibula in contact with entopterygoid; (3) subopercle small and anterior to opercle. †Phareodus shares the following derived characters with extant osteoglossoids: (1) supraorbital and otic sensory canals connected; (2) one uroneural; (3) reticulate furrows present over entire scale. © 2009 The Linnean Society of London, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2009, 157, 83–106. doi: 10.1111/j.1096-3642.2009.00532.x ADDITIONAL KEYWORDS: Early Cretaceous – East Asia – Osteoglossoidei – osteology – phylogeny. INTRODUCTION The Osteoglossomorpha is a basal group of teleosts that comprises about 218 extant species, referred to 28 genera in four families (Nelson, 2006). Almost all recent osteoglossomorphs are freshwater fishes, a few (notopterids) of which occasionally enter brackish water. Extant osteoglossomorphs are confined to the tropical regions of southern continents and South- East Asia, except for a North American subgroup, Hiodontiformes, thus showing a disjunct pattern of distribution (Greenwood et al., 1966; Patterson, 1975). Abundant fossil osteoglossomorphs have been discovered from all continents except Antarctica. The earliest records of the group can be dated back to the Early Cretaceous (Berg, 1948; Liu et al., 1963; Chang & Chou, 1977; Taverne, 1979; Ma, 1980; Liu, Ma & Liu, 1985; da Silva Santos, 1985). The majority of fossil osteoglossomorphs have been found in freshwa- ter deposits. Thus, the group is presumed to be primary freshwater fishes, i.e. unable to move across oceanic barriers. They are considered to have been widespread before the supercontinent Gondwana broke up some 135 Mya (Greenwood & Wilson, 1998). The Osteoglossomorpha has long attracted the attention of ichthyologists for its distinctive features in morphology and physiology (and hence its apparent monophyly), its long history with relatively *Corresponding author. E-mail: cmeemann@yahoo.com Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2009, 157, 83–106. With 11 figures © 2009 The Linnean Society of London, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2009, 157, 83–106 83 Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/zoolinnean/article-abstract/157/1/83/2623011 by guest on 24 May 2020