Myllokunmingiidae Explained

Myllokunmingiidae is a group of very early, jawless prehistoric fish (Agnathans) which lived during the Cambrian period.^[1] The Myllokunmingiids are the earliest known group of craniates. The group contains only three known genera, Haikouichthys, Myllokunmingia, and Zhongjianichthys. Their fossils have been found only in the Maotianshan Shales lagerstätte.

Taxonomy

• Order †Myllokunmingiida Shu, 2003^{[2] [3] [4]}
  • Family †Myllokunmingiidae Shu, 2003
    • Genus †Haikouichthys Luo, Hu & Shu 1999 sensu Shu et al., 2003
      • Species †Haikouichthys ercaicunensis Luo, Hu & Shu 1999 sensu Shu et al., 2003
    • Genus †Myllokunmingia Shu, Zhang & Han, 1999
      • Species †Myllokunmingia fengjiaoa Shu, Zhang & Han, 1999
    • Genus †Zhongjianichthys Shu, 2003
      • Species †Zhongjianichthys rostratus Shu, 2003

See also

Other very early vertebrates or transitional between olfactores and vertebrates are:

• Metaspriggina
• Yunnanozoon
• Palaeospondylus
• Zhongxiniscus
• Haikouella

Notes and References

1. Shu. Degan. A paleontological perspective of vertebrate origin. Chinese Science Bulletin. April 2003. 48. 8. 725–735. 10.1007/BF03187041. 2003ChSBu..48..725S. 85163902 .
2. Book: Nelson. Joseph S.. Grande. Terry C.. Wilson. Mark V. H.. 2016. Fishes of the World. 5th. John Wiley & Sons. 9781118342336.
3. van der Laan. Richard. Eschmeyer. William N.. Fricke . Ronald. 2014. Family-group names of Recent fishes. 3882. 2. Zootaxa. 001–230. 1175-5326. 10.11646/zootaxa.3882.1.1. 25543675. 31014657 . free.
4. van der Laan. Richard. 2016. Family-group names of fossil fishes.