Oniichthys is an extinct genus of gar in the family Lepisosteidae. It contains a single species, O. falipoui, known from the Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian) of Morocco.[1]
| Oniichthys Temporal range:
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|---|---|
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Clade: | Ginglymodi |
| Order: | Lepisosteiformes |
| Family: | Lepisosteidae |
| Tribe: | Lepisosteini |
| Genus: | †Oniichthys Cavin & Brito, 2001 |
| Species: | †O. falipoui
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| Binomial name | |
| †Oniichthys falipoui Cavin & Brito, 2001
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| Synonyms | |
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It is known from a few very well-preserved, near-complete specimens from the Kem Kem Formation, where it coexisted with the famous Spinosaurus.[2] It closely resembles the modern genus Atractosteus, and is generally placed as its sister genus, a sister to Atractosteus and Lepisosteus, or even as a species within Atractosteus as per Grande (2010),[3] although this latter view has been disputed based on differences in skull morphology.[4][5]
The genus name references the Ooni, divine Yoruba kings, while the specific epithet honors Christian Falipou, who loaned one of the type specimens.[1]
References
edit- ^ a b Cavin, Lionel; Brito, Paulo M. (2001). "A new Lepisosteidae (Actinopterygii, Ginglymodi) from the Cretaceous of the Kem Kem Beds, southern Morocco". Bulletin de la Société Géologique de France. 172 (5): 661–670. doi:10.2113/172.5.661.
- ^ Ibrahim, Nizar; Sereno, Paul C.; Varricchio, David J.; Martill, David M.; Dutheil, Didier B.; Unwin, David M.; Baidder, Lahssen; Larsson, Hans C. E.; Zouhri, Samir; Kaoukaya, Abdelhadi (2020-04-21). "Geology and paleontology of the Upper Cretaceous Kem Kem Group of eastern Morocco". ZooKeys (928): 1–216. Bibcode:2020ZooK..928....1I. doi:10.3897/zookeys.928.47517. ISSN 1313-2970. PMC 7188693. PMID 32362741.
- ^ Grande, Lance (2010). "An Empirical Synthetic Pattern Study of Gars (Lepisosteiformes) and Closely Related Species, Based Mostly on Skeletal Anatomy. The Resurrection of Holostei" (PDF). Copeia. 2010 (2A): iii–871. JSTOR 20787269.
- ^ Cavin, Lionel; Boudad, Larbi; Tong, Haiyan; Läng, Emilie; Tabouelle, Jérôme; Vullo, Romain (2015-05-27). "Taxonomic Composition and Trophic Structure of the Continental Bony Fish Assemblage from the Early Late Cretaceous of Southeastern Morocco". PLOS ONE. 10 (5): e0125786. Bibcode:2015PLoSO..1025786C. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0125786. ISSN 1932-6203. PMC 4446216. PMID 26018561.
- ^ Cooper, Samuel L. A.; Gunn, James; Brito, Paulo M.; Zouhri, Samir; Martill, David M. (2023-11-01). "A new fully marine, short-snouted lepisosteid gar from the Upper Cretaceous (Turonian) of North Africa". Cretaceous Research. 151: 105650. Bibcode:2023CrRes.15105650C. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2023.105650. ISSN 0195-6671. S2CID 259520870.