| Rhipidistia Temporal range: Early Devonian - Recent |
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| Ectosteorhachis | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Sarcopterygii |
| Infraclass: | Crossopterygii |
| (unranked): | Rhipidistia |
Late Devonian vertebrate speciation saw lobe-finned fish like Panderichthys having descendants such as Eusthenopteron which could breathe air in muddy shallows, then Tiktaalik whose limb-like fins could take it onto land, preceding the first tetrapod amphibians such as Acanthostega whose feet had eight digits, and Ichthyostega with developed limbs, negotiating weed-filled swamps. Lobe-finned fish evolved into Coelacanth species which survive to this day.
The Rhipidistia, also known as dipnotetrapodomorphs (formally Dipnotetrapodomorpha)[1] are a clade of lobe-finned fishes which include the Tetrapods and lungfishes. Rhipidistia formerly referred to a subgroup of Sarcopterygii consisting of the Porolepiformes and Osteolepiformes, a definition that is now obsolete.[2] However as cladistic understanding of the vertebrates has improved over the last few decades a monophyletic Rhipidistia is now understood to include the whole of Tetrapoda and of the extant lungfishes.
Taxonomy[edit]
Rhipidistia
References[edit]
- ^ Joseph S., Nelson (19 May 2006). Fishes of the World. John Wiley & Sons. p. 461. ISBN 978-0-471-75644-6. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
- ^ "Encyclopedia Britannica". Retrieved 3 April 2014.
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