Platinx

Platinx is an extinct genus of marine ray-finned fish that inhabited the northern Tethys Ocean during the early to middle Eocene.^[1] It was the last surviving member of the ancient order Crossognathiformes, which was a dominant and successful group throughout the preceding Mesozoic era.^[2][3]

Platinx Temporal range: Early to Middle Eocene PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Specimen from Monte Bolca
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	†Crossognathiformes
Family:	†Pachyrhizodontidae
Genus:	†Platinx Agassiz, 1835
Species:	†P. macropterus
Binomial name
†Platinx macropterus (de Blainville, 1818)
Synonyms
Platinx cognitus Daniltshenko, 1968 Platinx elongatus Agassiz, 1835 Platinx intermedius Eastman, 1905

It contains a single species, P. macropterus, whose remains are primarily known from the late Ypresian-aged rocks of Monte Bolca, Italy.^[4] However, specimens have also been recovered from the earliest-Ypresian Danata Formation of Turkmenistan (sometimes placed in their own distinct species, P. cognitus Daniltshenko, 1968, although these do not appear to be distinct enough from P. macropterus),^[3] as well as incomplete remains from the middle Eocene of Syria.^[5]

Fossil specimen

The extinct bonytongues Monopteros and Thrissopterus, which co-occur with Platinx in Monte Bolca, were for a time briefly reclassified as a species of Platinx (P. gigas), although they are now known to be distinct.^[3][6]