Abstract

The fossil record of ponyfishes (Leiognathidae) is documented by the presence of skeletal remains and otoliths in Europe, Africa and Asia. Here we describe in detail a set of skeletal imprints from the Early Miocene (Burdigalian) of Harta locality (Poland). These specimens are morphologically identical and similar in meristic values to Leiognathoides minutus recently known from the Great Caucasian Basin. The studied remains exhibit a number of characters allowing to place this species within leiognathids. Among them, there are five osteological synapomorphies of the family Leiognathidae, as well as characters allowing to nest L. minutus within the Acanthuriformes. We suggest that the Western Tethys may have acted as a center of origin for ponyfishes, from which they migrated into different parts of the Paratethys. Using a seaway between the Tethys and Indian Ocean, leiognathids invaded the Indo-West Pacific and became diverse there, however went extinct in the Paratethys during the middle Miocene. Our data additionally corroborate the hypothesis about close connection between the fish faunas of the Carpathian and Greater Caucasian basins, and the possibility of a faunal exchange between different parts of the Paratethys during the Early Miocene.

中文翻译：

---

喀尔巴阡盆地的早中新世小马鱼（棘鱼目、鳞鱼科）

摘要

小马鱼（Leiognathidae）的化石记录通过欧洲、非洲和亚洲的骨骼遗骸和耳石的存在来记录。在这里，我们详细描述了一组来自 Harta 地区（波兰）早中新世（布尔迪加尔）的骨骼印记。这些标本在形态学上与最近在大高加索盆地发现的Leiognathoides minutus 的分生值相同和相似。所研究的遗骸展示了许多特征，允许将这个物种置于 leiognathids 中。其中，Leiognathidae 有 5 个骨学突触，以及允许筑巢L. minutus 的性状棘鱼目内。我们认为西特提斯可能是小马鱼的起源中心，它们从那里迁移到了帕拉提斯的不同部分。利用特提斯群岛和印度洋之间的一条海道，鲀类入侵印度-西太平洋并在那里变得多样化，但在中新世中期在帕拉提斯群岛灭绝。我们的数据还证实了关于喀尔巴阡山脉和大高加索盆地鱼类群之间密切联系的假设，以及在早中新世期间帕拉提提斯不同部分之间可能存在动物群系交换的假设。