title: A Devonian predatory fish provides insights into the early evolution of modern sarcopterygians.
abstract: Crown or modern sarcopterygians (coelacanths, lungfishes, and tetrapods) differ substantially from stem sarcopterygians, such as Guiyu and Psarolepis, and a lack of transitional fossil taxa limits our understanding of the origin of the crown group. The Onychodontiformes, an enigmatic Devonian predatory fish group, seems to have characteristics of both stem and crown sarcopterygians but is difficult to place because of insufficient anatomical information. We describe the new skull material of Qingmenodus, a Pragian (~409-million-year-old) onychodont from China, using high-resolution computed tomography to image internal structures of the braincase. In addition to its remarkable similarities with stem sarcopterygians in the ethmosphenoid portion, Qingmenodus exhibits coelacanth-like neurocranial features in the otic region. A phylogenetic analysis based on a revised data set unambiguously assigns onychodonts to crown sarcopterygians as stem coelacanths. Qingmenodus thus bridges the morphological gap between stem sarcopterygians and coelacanths and helps to illuminate the early evolution and diversification of crown sarcopterygians.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, PO Box 643, Beijing 100044, China.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, PO Box 643, Beijing 100044, China.
authors.forename: Min
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-4786-0898
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Subdepartment of Evolution and Development, Department of Organismal Biology, Uppsala University, SE-752 36 Uppsala, Sweden.
authors.forename: Per Erik
authors.initials: PE
authors.lastname: Ahlberg
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, PO Box 643, Beijing 100044, China.
authors.forename: Tuo
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-0488-7265
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Qiao
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, PO Box 643, Beijing 100044, China.; Subdepartment of Evolution and Development, Department of Organismal Biology, Uppsala University, SE-752 36 Uppsala, Sweden.
authors.forename: You'an
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, PO Box 643, Beijing 100044, China.
authors.forename: Wenjin
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-9649-2171
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, PO Box 643, Beijing 100044, China.
authors.forename: Liantao
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Jia
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D005399:Fishes; D005580:Fossils; D010163:Paleontology; D011235:Predatory Behavior
keywords: HRCT; Sarcopterygians; brain cavity; coelacanths; crown sarcopterygians; evolutionary transition; neurocranial evolution; phylogeny