Artigo Acesso aberto

4. On the Fossil Teleostean Genus Rhacolepis , Agass.

1887; Zoological Society of London; Volume: 55; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1111/j.1096-3642.1887.tb03012.x

ISSN

0370-2774

Autores

Arthur Smith Woodward,

Tópico(s)

Invertebrate Taxonomy and Ecology

Resumo

Among the numerous fossil fishes named and briefly noticed by Agassiz during the preparation of his great work ' Recherches sur les Poissons Fossiles,' but reserved for adequate description in the contemplated supplements which unfortunately never appeared, are some interesting specimens from the north of Brazil, displaying the characters of an extinct generic type, mentioned under the name of Rhacolepis.Of these the British Museum now contains an extensive series, enriched especially by the recent acquisition of the Egerton and Enniskillen collections ; and as materials are thus provided for a tolerably complete elucidation of the ancient fish they represent, the present seems a favourable opportunity for completing the original diagnoses.The majority of the fossils were actually examined by Agassiz himself, and several bear his MS.labels, so that it is possible to recognize the various species he intended to establish.And a careful study of the whole series has lately revealed some novel facts in regard to the affinities of the genus, which appear to have hitherto escaped observation, and render it of considerable interest to the zoologist.The fossil fishes in question, together with four or five other genera, are discovered in calcareous nodules, of concretionary origin, scattered upon the hill-sides in the neighbourhood of Barra do Jardim, Serra de Araripe, North Brazil, and the first published allusion to them appears to occur in the record of Spix and Martius's travels at the beginning of the present century \ About 1840 many specimens were collected by Mr. George Gardner, of Glasgow, who submitted them to Agassiz, and briefly described the circumstances under which they were met with^; and these, probably, form the greater part of the Museum collection at the present time.Still others were brought under Agassiz's notice by MM.F.

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