Osteolepiformes

Osteolepiformes
Temporal range: Middle Devonian to Late Carboniferous
Osteolepis
Scientific classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Sarcopterygii
Clade: Tetrapodomorpha
Order: Osteolepiformes
Berg, 1937
Groups included

See text

Cladistically included but traditionally excluded taxa

Osteolepiformes, also known as Osteolepidida, is a group of prehistoric lobe-finned fishes which first appeared during the Devonian period. The order contains the families Canowindridae, Megalichthyidae, Osteolepididae and Tristichopteridae, in addition to several monotypic families. The order is generally considered to be paraphyletic because the characters that define it are mainly attributes of stem tetrapodomorphs.

The following taxonomy is based on Borgen & Nakrem, 2016:

Below is a cladogram showing the paraphyly of Osteolepiformes compiled and modified from Ahlberg and Johanson (1998). See also Swartz (2012). Osteolepiformes is marked by the green bracket.

Tetrapodomorpha
Osteolepiformes