A new scanilepiform from the Lower Triassic of northern Gansu Province, China, and phylogenetic relationships of non-teleostean Actinopterygii

A new scanilepiform, Beishanichthys brevicaudalis gen. et sp. nov., is named and described based on fossils from the Lower Triassic lake deposits exposed in Beishan area, Gansu Province, China. The discovery documents a new record of this group, which is significantly older than other known scanilepiforms from China, and is slightly younger than Evenkia from the Lowest Triassic of Central Siberia. Although the Beishan beds were previously interpreted as Late Permian in age, based on megaplant fossils, this new discovery supports the reinterpretation of the deposits as Early Triassic in age, based on vertebrate fossils from the same locality and horizon. Phylogenetic analysis was conducted to resolve the relationships of Scanilepiformes with other actinopterygian clades, and the inter-relationships within Scanilepiformes. Contrary to previous thought that scanilepiforms are closely related to the Amiidae, the phylogenetic results of this study recognize the Scanilepiformes as stem-group neopterygians. Relationships of the Scanilepiformes and Australosomus with other neopterygians remain unresolved. With a characteristic long-based dorsal fin, scanilepiforms represent a small group that emerged in Early Triassic freshwater environments, inhabited Eurasia and North America during the Middle-Late Triassic, briefly invaded the marine environment by the Late Triassic in Europe, and became extinct at the end of Triassic. (C) 2011 The Linnean Society of London, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2011, 161, 595-612.