Ferganoceratodus
Ferganoceratodus is a genus of prehistoric freshwater lungfish known from worldwide during the Mesozoic. Based on morphological evidence, it has either been recovered as a basal member of the Ceratodontiformes or to be the sister group of the Neoceratodontidae.
Challands et al defined synapomorphies of the genus as being a pterygoid tooth plate with five to six ridges, a prearticular tooth plate with four to five ridges, three bones on the medial skull roof series, and two bones on the calvarium. Under this definition, the genus is significantly expanded. However, most of these placements are only tentative.
Species
The following species are currently classified in the genus. Many were formerly classified in Ptychoceratodus, Ceratodus, or other genera, but were reassigned to this genus in 2023:- †F. acutus - Late Triassic of Madagascar
- †F. annekempae Cavin, Deesri & Chanthasit, 2020 - Phu Kradung Formation, Thailand, Late Jurassic
- †F. concinnus - Late Triassic of Germany
- †F. cuyanus - Late Triassic of Argentina
- †F. edwardsi Challands et al., 2023 - Late Triassic of Zimbabwe
- †F. hislopianus - Late Triassic of India
- †F. iheringi - Late Cretaceous of Argentina
- †F. jurassicus Nessov & Kaznyshkin, 1985 - Middle Jurassic of Kyrgyzstan
- †F. madagascarensis - Late Cretaceous of Madagascar
- †F. martini Cavin et al., 2007 - Phu Kradung Formation, Thailand, Late Jurassic-?earliest Cretaceous
- ?†F. patagonicus - Campanian/Maastrichtian of Argentina
- †F. phillipsi - Middle Jurassic of England, Late Triassic of Germany, potentially Carnian of Brazil, Early Triassic of South Africa, early Triassic of Australia
- †F. rectangulus - Late Triassic of Greenland and Germany
- †F. roemeri - Late Triassic of Poland
- †F. szechuanensis - Thailand Late Triassic South China, Jurassic, Khlong Min Formation, Thailand, Middle Jurassic, Phu Kradung Formation, Thailand, Late Jurassic-?earliest Cretaceous
Unusually, North America is the only continent to lack any records of Ferganoceratodus, despite the extremely wide geographic and stratigraphic range of the genus. It has been suggested that some of the potential "Ceratodus" species from North America may be members of Ferganoceratodus, or that Ferganoceratodus was excluded from North America by the similar but highly distinct Potamoceratodus lineage.