The bony fishes (Class Osteichthyes) are the largest and most diverse vertebrate class.
They are masters of all aquatic environments, thanks in large measure to hydrodynamic styling that
includes the evolution of thin, flat fins with ray-like bony supports.
- Success of the bony fishes
- Fin structure
- Ray-finned fishes (Actinopterygii)
- Chondrostei
- Holostei
- Teleostei
- Lobe-finned fishes (Sarcopterygii)— next class
- Evolutionary diversity:
adaptive radiation, convergence, iterative replacement, etc.
Illustrations
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