A new Early Devonian lungfish from Guangxi, China, and its palaeogeographic significance

Abstract

Qiao, T. & Zhu, M., 13.4.2015. A new Early Devonian lungfish from Guangxi, China, and its palaeogeographic significance. Alcheringa 39, xxx–xxx. ISSN 0311-5518

A new species of Cathlorhynchus (Dipnorhynchidae, Dipnoi) is described based on a mandible from the marine Yukiang Formation (early Emsian, Early Devonian) of Guangxi, southern China. It resembles the type species of Cathlorhynchus, C. trismodipterus, in that the anterior portion of the internal median septum terminates abruptly and does not contact dermal bones ventrally. The new Chinese form, together with Erikia jarviki from the Emsian of Yunnan, southern China, confirms the occurrence of the Dipnorhynchus lineage outside Australia. Coupled with the distribution of Westollrhynchus, Ichnomylax and Jessenia, we propose that the Dipnorhynchus lineage was dispersed widely during the early Emsian, corroborating the trans-Panthalassic distribution of early sarcopterygians.

Tuo Qiao [[email protected]] and Min Zhu [[email protected]], Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, PO Box 643, Beijing 100044, PR China.

Key words:

• Cathlorhynchus
• dipnorhynchid
• southern China
• Emsian
• phylogeny
• palaeogeography.

Acknowledgements

We thank G.-C. Zeng for generously providing the material. We also thank X.-F. Lu for specimen preparation and J.-L. Huang for illustrations. This work was supported by Major State Basic Research Projects (2012CB821902) of MST of China, National Natural Science Foundation of China (41202016), the National Science Fund for Talent Training in Basic Science (J1210008), and the State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy (Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, CAS) (133109).

Supplemental data

The underlying research materials for this article can be accessed at http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03115518.2015.1015819.