Actinopteri

Actinopteri
File:Atlantic sturgeon flipped.jpg
Atlantic sturgeon (Chondrostei)
File:Salmo salar flipped.jpg
Atlantic salmon (Neopterygii)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Clade:	Actinopteri Cope, 1871
Subclasses
Chondrostei Neopterygii

Actinopteri (/æktɪˈnɒptəraɪ/) is the sister group of Cladistia (bichirs) in the class Actinopterygii (ray-finned fish).

Dating back to the Permian period, the Actinopteri comprise the Chondrostei (sturgeons and paddlefish), the Holostei (bowfins and gars), and the teleosts; in other words, all extant ray-finned fish other than the bichirs.

In this clade the lungs have evolved into a swim bladder.

Characters of Actinopteri include paired fin structure, a single dorsal fin, fulcra, a large median gular and numerous branchiostegals, ganoid scales, and a valvula cerebelli in the brain.

Classification

The following cladogram summarizes the evolutionary relationships of extant Actinopteri. Divergence time for each clade in mya are based on:

Actinopteri 400 mya	Chondrostei Acipenseriformes (sturgeons, paddlefish) File:Paddlefish (white background).jpg Neopterygii 360 mya Teleostei 310 mya File:Common carp (white background).jpg Holostei 275 mya Halecomorphi Amiiformes (bowfin) File:Amia calva (white background).jpg Ginglymodi Lepisosteiformes (gars, alligator gars) File:Alligator gar fish (white background).jpg