Abstract
Because of the importance of cyprinid fishes in freshwater communities throughout much of the world, the fossil history of the family greatly interests many people. Fossils can indicate the latest possible date of origin of a phyletic line, and may reveal geographic distribution and the environment occupied. Sometimes well-preserved fossils can increase knowledge concerning the primitive or derived morphology of osteological characters used in systematics. One of the most striking features of the cyprinid fossil history is the paucity of museum specimens and published records, especially for the early and middle parts of the Cenozoic Era. In most major land areas where cyprinids live today, evidence of their existence before the Miocene and Pliocene epochs is sparse or unknown. Since cyprinids dominate today’s freshwater fish communities, it is difficult to believe that they have done so for only the last 10–20 million years (m. y) in areas such as western North America, Europe, Africa and India. The Asian-Oriental region may differ, although many more fossils are needed.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Andrews, S. M., Gardiner, B. G., Miles, R. S. and Patterson, C. (1967) Pisces, in The Fossil Record: A Symposium With Documentation, Geological Society of London, pp. 637–683.
Bănărescu, P. (1960) Einige fragen zur Herkunft und Verbreitung der Süsswasserfisch-fauna der Europaisch-Mediterranen unterregion. Arch. Hydrobiol., 57 (1/2), 16–134.
Bănărescu, P. (1972) The zoogeographical position of the East Asian fresh-water fish fauna. Revue roum. Biol. Zool. 17, 315–323.
Bănărescu, P. (1973) Some reconsiderations on the zoogeography of the Euro-Mediterranean fresh-water fish fauna. Revue roum. Biol. Zool. 18, 257–264.
Berggren, W. A. (1986) Geochronology of the Eocene-Oligocene, in Terminal Eocene Events (eds C. Pomerol and I. Premoli-Silva ), Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp. 349–356.
Berggren, W. A., Kent, D. V. and Flynn, J. J. (1985) Paleogene geochronology and chronostratigraphy, in The Chronology of the Geological Record (ed. N. J. Snelling), Mem. geol. Soc. Lond. 10, pp. 141–195.
Briggs, J. C. (1979) Ostariophysan zoogeography: an alternative hypothesis. Copeia, 1979, 111–118.
Cabrera, LI. and Gaudant, J. (1985) Los Ciprinidos (Pisces) del sistema lacustre Oligocénico-Miocénico de los Monegros (sector SE de 1a Cuenca del Ebro, provincias de Lleida, Tarragona, Huesca y Zaragoza). Acta geòl. Hisp. 20 (3/4), 219–226.
Cavallo, O. and Gaudant, J. (1987) Observations complémentaires sur l’ichthyofauna des Marnes Messiniennes de Cherasco (Piémont): implications géodynamiques. Boll. Soc. paleont. ital. 26 (1–2), 177–198.
Cavender, T. M. (1969) An Oligocene mudminnow (family Umbridae) from Oregon with remarks on relationships within the Esocoidei. Occ. Pap. Mus. Zool. Univ. Mich., 660, 1–33.
Cavender, T. M. (1986) Review of the fossil history of North American freshwater fishes, in The Zoogeography of North American Freshwater Fishes (eds. C. H. Hocutt and E. O. Wiley), John Wiley & Sons, NY, pp. 699–724.
Cavender, T. M. (1986) Review of the fossil history of North American freshwater fishes, in The Zoogeography of North American Freshwater Fishes (eds. C. H. Hocutt and E. O. Wiley ), John Wiley & Sons, NY, pp. 699–724.
Chang, Mee-mann [= Zhang Miman] and Chia-chien Chow (1978) On the fossil fishes in Mesozoic and Cenozoic oil-bearing strata from East China and their sedimentary environment. Vertebrata Palasiatica, 16, 229–237.
Chen, X., Yue, P. and Lin, R. (1984) Major groups within the family Cyprinidae and their phylogenetic relationships. Acta Zootaxon. Sinica, 9, 424–440.
Cheng, C. C. (1962) Fossil fishes from the early Tertiary of Hsiang-Hisiang, Hunan, with a discussion of the age of the Hsiawanpu Formation. Vertebr. palasiat. 6, 342–343.
Cheng, C. C. (1962) Fossil fishes from the early Tertiary of Hsiang-Hisiang, Hunan, with a discussion of the age of the Hsiawanpu Formation. Vertebr. palasiat. 6, 342–343.
Cross, F. B., Mayden, R. L. and Stewart, J. D. (1986) Fishes in the western Mississippi basin (Missouri, Arkansas and Red Rivers), in The Zoogeography of North American Freshwater Fishes (eds C. H. Hocutt and E. O. Wiley ), John Wiley & Sons, NY, pp. 363–412.
Danil’chenko, P. G. (1967) Superorder Teleostei, in Fundamentals of Paleontology, 11, Israel Program for Scientific Translations, Jerusalem, pp. 603–712.
Darlington, P. J. jun. (1957) Zoogeography: The Geographical Distribution of Animals, John Wiley, NY.
Eastman, C. R. (1917) Fossil fishes in the collection of the United States National Museum. Proc. U.S. natu. Mus., 52, 235–304.
Epis, R. C. (1969) Proposed Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument. Mines Mag., 59 (5), 10–13.
Evernden, J. F. and James, G. T. (1964) Potassium-argon dates and the Tertiary floras of North America. Am. J. Sci., 262, 945–974.
Fink, S.V. and Fink, W. L. (1981) Interrelationships of the ostariophysan fishes (Teleostei). Zool. J. Linn. Soc., 72, 297–353.
Gaudant, J. (1975) Présence du genre Tinca Cuv. (Poisson Téléostéen, Cypriniforme) dans 1e Villafranchien de Senèze (Haute-Loire). Geobios, Lyon, 8, 353–354.
Gaudant, J. (1976) Découverte d’un Cobitidae (Poisson Téléostéen, Cypriniforme) dans le Pliocene continental des environs de Rochefort-Montagne (Puy-De-Dome). Geobios, Lyon, 9, 673–679.
Gaudant, J. (1977a) Nouvelles observations sur l’ichthyofaune stampienne d’Oberdorf (Canton de Soleure). Eclog. geol. Helv., 70, 789–809.
Gaudant, J. (1977b) Contributions à la paléontologie du Miocène moyen. Continental du basin du tage II Observations sur les dents pharyngiennes de poissons cyprinidés Póvoa de Santarém. Ciênc. Terra, 3, 129–141.
Gaudant, J. (1978) Découverte du plus ancien representant connu du genre Esox L. (Poisson Téléostéen, Esocoidei) dan le Stampien moyen du bassin d’Apt (Vaucluse). Géol. Med., 5, 257–268.
Gaudant, J. (1979a) Contribution a l’étude des vertébrés Oligocénes de Soluce (Canton du Jura). Eclog. geol. Helv., 72, 871–895.
Gaudant, J. (1979b) Sur la présence de dents de Characidae (Poissons Téléostéens, Ostariophysi) dans les ‘Calcaires a Bythinies’ et les ‘Sables Bleutes’ du Var. Geobios, Lyon, 12, 451–457.
Gaudant, J. (1980a) Eurocharax tourainei (Poisson Téléostéen, Ostariophysi): nouveau Characidae fossile des ‘Calcaires a Bythinies’ du Var. Geobios, Lyon, 13, 683–703.
Gaudant, J. (1980b) Mise au point sur l’ichthyofaune miocéne d’Öhningen (Baden, Allemagne). C.r. hebd. Séanc. Acad. Sci. Paris, 291D, 1033–1036.
Gaudant, J. (1984a) Nouvelles recherches sur les Cyprinidae (Poissons Téléostéens) Oligocènes des limagnes. Geobios, Lyon, 17, 659–666.
Gaudant, J. (1984b) Sur les poissons fossiles (Téléostéens, Cyprinidae) des gypses Turoliens du Fosse de Teruel: essai d’approche paleoécologique. Estudios geol. Inst. Invest. geol Lucas Mallada, 40, 463–472.
Gaudant, J. (1985) Mise en évidence d’Osmeridae (Poissons Téléostéens, Salmonif-ormes) dans l’Oligocène lacustre d’Europe occidentale. C.r. hebd. Séanc. Acad. Sci. Paris, Ser. II, 300 (2), 79–82.
Gaudant, J. (1988) Mise au point sur l’ichthyofaune oligocène de Rott, Stösschen et Orsberg (Allemagne), C.r. hebd. Séanc. Acad. Sci. Paris, Ser. II, 306, 831–834.
Gaudant, J. and Burkhardt, T. (1984) Sur la découverte de poissons fossiles dans les marnes grises rayées de la zone fossilifère (Oligocène basal) d’Altkirch (Haut-Rhin). Sci. geol Bull., 37 (2), 153–171.
Gaudant, J. and Rousset, C. (1979) Découverte de restes de Cyprinidae (Poissons Téléostéens) dans l’Oligocene moyen de Marseille (Bouches-du-Rhone). Geobios,Lyon, 12, 331–337.
Gayet, M. (1982) Découverte dans le Crétacé supérieur de Bolivie des plus anciens Characiformes connus, C. hebd. Séanc. Acad. Sel Paris, 294D, 1037–1040.
Grande, L. (1980) Paleontology of the Green River Formation, with a review of the fish fauna. Bull. geol. Surv. Wyo., 63, 1–333.
Grande, L., Eastman, J. T. and Cavender, T. M. (1982) Amyzon gosiutensis, a new catostomid fish from the Green River Formation. Copeia, 1982, 523–532.
Greenwood, P. H. (1972) New fish fossils from the Pliocene of Wadi Natrun, Egypt. J. Zool., Lond., 168, 503–519.
Greenwood, P. H. (1973) Fish fossils of the Late Miocene of Tunisia. Notes Serv. Géol Tunisie, 37, 41–72.
Greenwood, P. H. (1974) Review of Cenozoic fish faunas in Africa. Ann. Geol Surv. Egypt, 4, 211–232.
Greenwood, P. H. and Howes, G. J. (1975) Neogene fossil fishes from the Lake Albert-Lake Edward Rift (Zaire). Bull. Br. Mus. nat Hist., Geol., 26 (3), 66–127.
Günther, A. (1876) Contributions to our knowledge of the fish-fauna of the Tertiary deposits of the Highlands of Padang, Sumatra. Geol. Mag., 2 (3), 433–440.
Hora, S. L. (1938) On fossil fish scales from the Intertrappean beds at Deothan and Kheri, Central Provinces, Rec. geol. Surv. India, 73, 267–294.
Howes, G. J. (1980) The anatomy, phylogeny and classification of the bariliine cyprinid fishes. Bull. Br. Mus. nat. Hist., Zool., 37, 129–198.
Howes, G. J. (1984) A review of the anatomy, taxonomy, phylogeny and biogeography of the African neoboline cyprinid fishes. Bull. Br. Mus. nat. Hist., Zool., 47 (3), 151–185.
Howes, G. J. (1987) The phylogenetic position of the Yugoslavian cyprinid fish genus Aulopyge Heckel, 1841, with an appraisal of the genus Barbus Cuvier & Cloquet, 1861 and the subfamily Cyprinidae. Bull. Br. Mus. nat. Hist., Zool., 52 (5), 165–196.
Hussakof, L. (1932). The fossil fishes collected by the Central Asiatic Expeditions, Am. Mus. Novit, 553, 1–19.
Ingersoll, R. V. and Ernst, W. G. (eds) (1987) Cenozoic Basin Development of Coastal California, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ.
Inoue, M. and Uyeno, T. (1968) Occurrence of two Paleogene fish fossils at Oyubari coal mine in central Hokkaido, Japan. Bull. natu. Sci. Mus., Tokyo, 11 (3), 319–326.
Laube, G. (1901) Synopsis der Wirbeltierefauna der böhmischen Braunkohlen Formation. Abh. Lotos, 2, 107–186.
Lebedev, V. D. (1959) Neogene fauna of freshwater fishes in the Zaisan depression and the west Siberian lowland. Vop. Ikhtiol., 12, 28–69 (in Russian).
Liu, H. T. (1957) A new fossil cyprinid fish from Maoming, Kwangtung. Vertebr. palasiat., 1 (1), 151–153.
Liu, H. T. and Su, T. (1962) Pliocene fishes from the Yushe basin, Shansi, Vertebr. palasiat., 6 (1), 20.
Menon, A. G. K. (1959) Catalogue and bibliography of fossil fishes of India. J. palaeont. Soc. India, 4, 51–60.
Menon, A. G. K. (1964) Monograph of the cyprinid fishes of the genus Garra Hamilton. Mem. Indian Mus. 14 (4), 173–260.
Miller, R. R. and Smith, M. L. (1986) Origin and geography of the fishes of central Mexico, in The Zoogeography of North American Freshwater Fishes (eds C. H. Hocutt and E. O. Wiley ), John Wiley & Sons, NY, pp. 487–517.
Nakajima, T. (1986) Pliocene cyprinid pharyngeal teeth from Japan and East Asia; Neogene cyprinid zoogeography, in Indo-Paciflc Fish Biology: Proceedings of the Second International Conference on Indo-Paciflc Fishes, Ichthyological Society of Japan, Tokyo (eds. T. Uyeno, R. Arai, T. Taniuchi and K. Matsuura), pp. 502–513.
Obrhelová, N. (1969) Die Karpfenfische im tschechoslowakischen Süsswassertertiär. Cas. Miner. Geol., 14, 39–52.
Obrhelová, N. (1970a) Die osteologie der Vorläufer von Tinca tinca (Pisces) aus dem Süsswassertertiär der ČSSR. Abh. Staatl. Mus. Mineral. Geol., Dresden, 16, 99–209.
Obrhelová, N. (1970b) Fische aus den Süsswasserablagerungen des Villafranchium im Süden der ČSSR. Geologie, 19, 569–587.
Obrhelová, N. (1970c) Fische aus dem Süsswassertertiär im Süden von Cechy. Geologie, 19, 967–1001.
Obrhelová, N. (1971) Vergleichende osteologie der gattung ‘Leuciscus’ (Pisces) aus tertiären Schichten der nördlichen und westlichen ČSSR. Paläont. Abhandl., Berlin (A), 4 (3), 549–660.
Paicheler, J. C., Broin, F. de, Gaudant, G., Mourer-Chauvire, C., Rage, J. C. and Vergnaud-Grazzini, C. (1978) Le Bassin Lacustre Miocène de Bes-Konak (Anatolie-Turquie): Géologie et introduction à la paléontologie des vertébrés. Geobios. Lyon, 11, 43–65.
Patterson, C. (1975) The distribution of Mesozoic freshwater fishes. Mem. Mus. natn. Hist. Paris, Ser. A, 88, 156–174.
Patterson, C. (1984a) Chanoides, a marine Eocene otophysan fish (Teleostei: Ostario-physi). J. Vert. Paleonl., 4, 430–456.
Patterson, C. (1984b) Family Chanidae and other teleostean fishes as living fossils, in Living Fissils (eds N. Eldredge and S. M. Stanley ), Springer-Verlag, New York pp. 132–139.
Pomerol, C. (1982) The Cenozoic Era, Tertiary and Quarternary. Ellis Horwood Ltd, Chichester, 272 pp.
Prothero, D. R. (1989) Stepwise extinction and climatic decline during the later Eocene and Oligocene, in Mass Extinctions (ed. S. K. Donovan ), Columbia Univ. Press, NY, pp. 217–234.
Rasmussen, D. L. (1973) Extension of the middle Tertiary unconformity into western Montana. Northwest Geol., 2, 27–35.
Reid, G. M. (1985) A revision of African species of Labeo (Pisces: Cyprinidae) and a redefinition of the genus. Theses Zool., 6, 1–322.
Romer, A. S. (1966) Vertebrate Paleontology, 3rd edn, The University of Chicago Press, Chicago and London, 468 pp.
Rosen, D. E. and Greenwood, P. H. (1970) Origin of the Weberian apparatus and the relationships of the ostariophysan and gonorphynchiform fishes. Am. Mus. Novit., 2428, 1–25.
Rutte, E. (1962) Schlundzähne von Süss wasserfischen. Palaeontographica, Abt A, 120 (4–6), 165–212.
Sanders, M. (1934) Die fossilen fische der Alttertiaren Süsswasserablagerungen aus Mittel-Sumatra. Verh. Geol.-mijnb. Genoot. Ned., 11, 1–143.
Siebert, D. J. (1987) Interrelationships among families of the order Cypriniformes (Teleostei), PhD dissertation, The City University of New York, 354 pp.
Smith, G. R. (1975) Fish of the pliocene Glenns Ferry Formation, southwest Idaho. Pap. Paleontol. Mus. Paleontol. Univ. Mich., 14, 1–68.
Smith, G. R. (1981) Late Cenozoic freshwater fishes of North America. A. Rev. Ecol. Syst., 12, 163–193.
Smith, M. L., Cavender, T. M. and Miller, R. R. (1975) Climatic and biogeographic significance of a fish fauna from the Late Pliocene-Early Pleistocene of the Lake Chapala Basin (Jalisco, Mexico), in Studies on Cenozoic Paleontology and Stratigraphy (eds. G. R. Smith and N. E. Friedland ), Univ. Mich. Pap. Paleont., 12, pp. 29–38.
Sytchevskaya, E. K. (1980) Order Cypriniformes, in Fossil Bony Fishes of the USSR (ed. L. E. Novitskaya), Trudy Paleont. Inst. Akad. Nauk, SSSR, 179, 50–61 (in Russian).
Sytchevskaya, E. K. (1986) Paleogene freshwater fish fauna of the USSR and Mongolia. Trans. Joint Soviet-Mongolian Paleontological Expedition, 29, 1–157 (in Russian with English summary).
Uyeno, T. (1960) Osteology and phylogeny of American cyprinid fishes allied to the genus Gila, PhD dissertation, Univ. Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI.
Uyeno, T. (1961) Late Cenozoic cyprinid fishes from Idaho with notes on other fossil minnows in North America. Pap. Mich. Acad. Sci. Arts, Lett., 46, 329–344.
Uyeno, T. (1969) Miocene fishes from Mae Sot Basin, northwestern Thailand. Geol. Palaeontol. Southeast Asia, 7, 93–96.
Uyeno, T. (1978) A preliminary report on fossil fishes from Ts’o-chen, Tai-nan. Sci. Rep. Geo. & Paleo., Taiwan Mus., 1, 5–17.
Uyeno, T., Kimura, S. and Hasegawa, Y. (1975) Freshwater fishes from Late Cenozoic deposits in Kusu Basin, Oita Prefecture, Japan. Mem. natl. Sci. Mus. (Tokyo), 8, 57–66.
Vail, P. R. and Hardenbol, J. (1979) Sea-level changes during the Tertiary. Oceanus, 22, 71–79.
Vail, P. R., Mitchum, R. M., jun. and Thompson, S., III (1977) Scismic stratigraphy and global changes of sea levels. Part 4: Global cycles of relative changes of sea level. Am. Assoc. Petrol. Geol. Mem. 26, 83–97.
Van Couvering, J. A. H. (1977) Early records of freshwater fishes in Africa. Copeia, 1977, 163–166.
Weiler, W. (1933) Die fischreste aus dem Oberpliozän von Willerhausen. Arch. Hydrobiol., 25, 291–304.
Weiler, W. (1934) Die fische des Steinheimer Beckens. Palaeontographica, 8, 1–20.
Weiler, W. (1960) Die fischreste aus den Ziegeleitonen von Ravolzhausen bei Hanau (Hessen). Notizbl. hess. Landesamt Bodenforsch Wiesbaden, 88, 20–28.
Weiler, W. (1963) Die fischfauna des Tertiärs im oberrheinischen Graben, des Manzer-Beckens, des unteren Maintals und der Wetterau, unter besonderer Berücksichtigung des Untermiozäns. Abh. senckenberg. naturforsch. Ges., 504, 1–75.
Weiler, W. (1965) Die fischfauna des interglazialen Beckentons von Bilhausen bei Gottingen. Neues Jb. Geol. Palaeont., Abh., 123 (2), 202–219.
Weiler, W. (1966) Die fischfauna des Helvets von Ivancice (Eibenschitz) in Mahren. Paläont. Z., 40, 118–143.
Weitzman, S. H. (1962) The systematic position of Piton’s presumed Characid fishes from the Eocene of central France. Stanford ichthyol. Bull., 7 (4), 114–123.
White, E. I. (1931) The Vertebrate Faunas of the English Eocene, Vol. 1, British Museum (Natural History), London, 123 pp.
Wilson, M. V. H. (1977) Middle Eocene freshwater fishes from British Columbia. Contr. Life Sci. Div. R. Ont. Mus., 113, 1–61.
Wilson, M. V. H. (1978a) Paleogene insect faunas of western North America. Quaest. Entomol., 14, 13–34.
Wilson, M. V. H. (1978b) Evolutionary significance of North American Paleogene insect faunas. Quaest. Entomol., 14, 35–42.
Wilson, M. V. H. (1980) Oldest known Esox (Pisces: Esocidae), part of a new Paleocene teleost fauna from western Canada. Can. J. Earth Sci., 1783, 307–312.
Wolfe, J. A. (1978) A paleobotanical interpretation of Tertiary climates in the northern hemisphere. Am. Scient, 66, 694–703.
Wolfe, J. A. (1981) A chronological framework for Cenozoic megafossil floras of northwestern North America and its relation to marine technology. Spec. Pap. geol. Soc. Am., 184, 39–47.
Yakovlev, V. N. (1959) Barbus orientalis, a new barbel species from the Upper Miocene of the Caucasus. Materialy-k osnonovoni paleontology, ii, Moskva, 3, 121–122 (in Russian).
Yakovlev, V. N. (1960) Taxonomic position of freshwater fishes from the West Siberia Neogene. Paleont. Zh., 3, 102–108 (in Russian).
Yakovlev, V. N. (1961) Distribution of the freshwater fishes of the holarctic Neogene and Zoogeographic zoning. Vop. Ikhtiol., I (2), 209–220 (in Russian).
Young, C. C. and Chow, M. M. (1956) Latest discoveries in vertebrate paleontology in China. Acta Scient. Sin., 5, 603–610.
Zhang, Miman and Jiajian Zhou (1985) Tertiary fish fauna from coastal region of Bohai Sea. Memoirs of the Institute of Vertebrate Palaeontology and Palaeoanthropology, Acad. sin., 17, 1–60.
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1991 Ian J. Winfield and Joseph S. Nelson
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Cavender, T.M. (1991). The fossil record of the Cyprinidae. In: Winfield, I.J., Nelson, J.S. (eds) Cyprinid Fishes. Fish & Fisheries Series, vol 3. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-3092-9_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-3092-9_2
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-010-5369-3
Online ISBN: 978-94-011-3092-9
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive