It is known by its isolated tooth plates, which are common in Paleogene formations in western Europe, with some remains also known from the southern United States. Formerly considered a wrasse and often classified within the fossil labrid genera Labrodon and Nummopalatus, more recent studies treat it as an extinct drumfish.[3] It may be potentially ancestral to the extant genus Pogonias.[2]
Based on the paleoenvironments of the formations from France and the United States that Diaphyodus is known from, it appears to have inhabited tropical estuarine habitats that were likely vegetated with mangrove forests, with dominance by Nypa palms.[4][5][6][7] In some localities such as in the Late Paleocene of France, their teeth are particularly abundant.[8]
The genus Eodiaphyodus from the Late Cretaceous was named after Diaphyodus and was also previously placed as a tentative drumfish alongside it,[3] but more likely represents a phyllodontid.[9]
^ abcBellwood, David R.; Schultz, Ortwin; Siqueira, Alexandre C.; Cowman, Peter F. (2019). "A review of the fossil record of the Labridae". Annalen des Naturhistorischen Museums in Wien. Serie a für Mineralogie und Petrographie, Geologie und Paläontologie, Anthropologie und Prähistorie. 121: 125–194. ISSN0255-0091. JSTOR26595690.
