Actinistia

Actinistia is a subclass of mostly fossil lobe-finned fishes. This subclass contains the coelacanths (Order Coelacanthiformes), including the two living species of coelacanths, both of the genus Latimeria: the West Indian Ocean coelacanth and the Indonesian coelacanth.

Actinistia Temporal range: Devonian–Recent PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
West Indian Ocean coelacanth
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Clade:	Sarcopterygii
Subclass:	Actinistia Cope, 1871
Orders and families
Miguashaiidae Diplocercidae Hadronectoridae Rhabdodermatidae Laugiidae Coelacanthiformes
Synonyms
Coelacanthimorpha

Whiteia fossils

Taxonomy

• Class Sarcopterygii (lobe-finned fishes and tetrapods)
  • Subclass Actinistia
    • Family Miguashaiidae (Devonian)
      • †Miguashaia
    • Family Diplocercidae (Devonian and Lower Carboniferous)
      • †Dictyonosteus
      • †Diplocercides (Nesides)
    • Family Hadronectoridae
      • †Allenypterus
      • †Hadronector
      • †Holopterygius
      • †Lochmocercus
      • †Polyosteorhynchus
      • †Spermatodus
    • Family Rhabdodermatidae (Primarily Carboniferous)
      • †Caridosuctor
      • †Rhabdoderma
      • †Sassenia
    • Family Laugiidae (Lower Triassic to Lower Cretaceous)
      • †Coccoderma
      • †Laugia
      • †Trachymetopon
    • Order Coelacanthiformes (coelacanths)
      • †Family Whiteiidae
      • †Family Rebellatricidae
      • Suborder Latimerioidei
        • †Family Mawsoniidae
        • Family Latimeriidae

Phylogeny

A, Miguashaia bureaui, Shultze, 1973, Upper Devonian (Frasnian), Migausha, Canada;
B, Diplocercides heiligostockiensis, Jessen (1966), Upper Devonian (Frasnian), Bergisch-Gladbach, Germany;
C, Serenicthys kowiensis gen. et sp. nov., Upper Devonian (Famennian), Grahamstown, South Africa;
D, Allenypterus montanus Melton 1969, Lower Carboniferous (Namurian), Montana, USA;
E, Rhabdodema elegans, (Newberry, 1856), Upper Carboniferous (Westphalian), Linton, Ohio, USA;
F, Latimeria chalumnae Smith 1939, recent, east coast of Africa.

The following cladograms are based on multiple sources.[1][2][3][4][5]

	Rhipidistia
Actinistia	Miguashaiidae   Gavinia     Miguashaia       Diplocercidae   Dictyonosteus     Diplocercides     Hadronectoridae   Hadronector         Allenypterus     Holopterygius         Lochmocercus       Polyosteorhynchus     Rhabdodermatidae   Rhabdoderma     Caridosuctor     Synaptotylus         Sassenia       Coelacanthidae   Axelia     Coelacanthus     Wimania     Ticinepomis     Laugiidae   Coccoderma     Laugia     Trachymetopon           Spermatodus     Coelacanthiformes

Coelacanthiformes	Whiteiidae   Piveteauia     Whiteia       Rebellatricidae Rebellatrix   Latimerioidei   Garnbergia   Mawsoniidae   Chinlea       Parnaibaia       Mawsonia     Axelrodichthys               Diplurus     Libys     Latimeriidae     Holophagus     Undina         Macropoma       Swenzia     Latimeria

See also

• Lazarus taxon

References

1. Wendruff, A. J.; Wilson, M. V. H. (2012). "A fork-tailed coelacanth, Rebellatrix divaricerca, gen. et sp. nov. (Actinistia, Rebellatricidae, fam. nov.), from the Lower Triassic of Western Canada". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 32 (3): 499–511. doi:10.1080/02724634.2012.657317.
2. Gallo, V.; M.S.S. de Carvalho; H.R.S. Santos (2010). "New occurrence of †Mawsoniidae (Sarcopterygii, Actinistia) in the Morro do Chaves Formation, Lower Cretaceous of the Sergipe-Alagoas Basin, Northeastern Brazil". Boletim do Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi. 5 (2): 195–205.
3. Long, J. A. (1995). The rise of fishes: 500 million years of evolution. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
4. Cloutier, R.; Ahlberg, P. E. (1996). Morphology, characters, and the interrelationships of basal sarcopterygians. pp. 445–479.
5. Clement, G. (2005). "A new coelacanth (Actinistia, Sarcopterygii) from the Jurassic of France, and the question of the closest relative fossil to Latimeria". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 25 (3): 481–491. doi:10.1671/0272-4634(2005)025[0481:ancasf]2.0.co;2.