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Type: Article
Published: 2021-10-22
Page range: 385-401
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Sturgeons (Acipenseridae) from the Late Miocene of Ukraine, with a discussion of materials associated with Widhalm’s (1886) nomen nudum, †Acipenser euhuso

Department of Fisheries Science, Virginia Institute of Marine Science, William & Mary, 1370 Greate Road, Gloucester Point, Virginia 23062 U. S. A.
Department of Palaeontology, National Museum of Natural History, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, 15 B. Khmelnytsky Str., Kyiv 01054, Ukraine. Department of Palaeozoology, Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of Wrocław, 21 Sienkiewicza Str., Wrocław 50-335, Poland
Palaeontological Museum, Odesa I. I. Mechnikov National University, 2 Dvorianska Str., Odesa 65082, Ukraine
Pisces Acipenseriformes Chondrostei morphology Pontian Paratethys

Abstract

The fossil record of the family Acipenseridae (sturgeons) extends to the Late Cretaceous (c. 85 MY), with a ghost lineage extending to approximately 120 MY when the first members of the family Polyodontidae are known. Much of the fossil record of Acipenseridae is formed by isolated and fragmentary dermal bones, which bear characteristic surface ornamentation. In this paper, we report on a collection of fossil sturgeons from the Upper Miocene deposits of southern Ukraine. These specimens include those used by Widhalm to establish †Acipenser euhuso, which is a nomen nudum. While we do not establish a new taxon for these specimens, the morphological variation of those elements that are preserved does suggest the presence of several species represented in this fauna.

 

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