Typical features of ptycholepiforms are the fusiform body covered in rhombic ganoid scales, the anterior position of the dorsal fin. In most coeval ray-fins the dorsal fin has a more posterior position), usually situated opposite to the anal fin. Moreover, ptycholepiforms show a series of elongate, horizontal suborbital bones. The skull is usually relatively large.
The scales are typically equipped with distinct longitudinal ridges. In Ptycholepis, the scales are low, whereas in genera, such as Ardoreosomus and Boreosomus, the scales are deeper. Peg-and-socket articulation between scales is present.
Species reached body sizes between 10 centimetres (0.33 ft) and 45 centimetres (1.48 ft).[4]
Systematics
The evolutionary relationships of Ptycholepiformes are poorly known, but most cladistic analyses place them outside of the Neopterygii.[5] A close relationship between Ptycholepididae and the Carboniferous to Early TriassicAcrolepididae was proposed based on some similarities, but support from phylogenetic analyses is scarce.[6]
Order †Ptycholepidiformes Andrews et al. 1967[7][8][9]
^Mutter, Raoul (2011). "A case study of the palaeobiogeography of Early Mesozoic actinopterygians, the family Ptycholepidae.". In Upchurch, P.; McGowan, A.J.; Slater, C.S.C. (eds.). Palaeogeography and Palaeobiogeography: Biodiversity in Space and Time. CRC Press, Boca Raton. pp. 143–171.
^Haaramo, Mikko (2007). "†Ptycholepiformes". Mikko's Phylogeny Archive. Retrieved 30 December 2016.