Editing Neopterygii (section)

== Evolution and diversity ==
{{Further|Evolution of fish|Diversity of fish}}
Living neopterygians are subdivided into two main groups ([[infraclass]]es): [[teleosts]] and [[holosteans]].<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = López-Arbarello | first1 = A | year = 2012 | title = Phylogenetic Interrelationships of Ginglymodian Fishes (Actinopterygii: Neopterygii) | journal = PLOS ONE | volume = 7 | issue = 7| page = e39370 | doi = 10.1371/journal.pone.0039370 | pmid = 22808031 | pmc = 3394768 | bibcode = 2012PLoSO...739370L | doi-access = free }}</ref> Holosteans comprise two [[clades]], the [[Ginglymodi]] and the [[Halecomorphi]].<ref>{{cite web | author = Betancur-R |  title = Phylogenetic Classification of Bony Fishes Version 4 | url = https://sites.google.com/site/guilleorti/classification-v-4 |date=2016}}</ref><ref name="Nelson 2016"/><ref>{{ITIS |id=161061 |taxon=Actinopterygii |access-date=3 April 2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | editor = R. Froese and D. Pauly|  title = FishBase | url = http://www.fishbase.org |date=February 2006}}</ref> All of these groups have a long and extensive [[fossil record]].<ref name="Friedman & Sallan 2012">{{cite journal |last1=Friedman |first1=Matt |last2=Sallan |first2=Lauren Cole |title=Five hundred million years of extinczion and recovery: A Phanerozoic survey of large-scale diversity patterns in fishes |journal=Palaeontology |date=June 2012 |volume=55 |issue=4 |pages=707–742 |doi=10.1111/j.1475-4983.2012.01165.x|bibcode=2012Palgy..55..707F |s2cid=59423401 |doi-access=free }}</ref> The [[phylogeny|evolutionary relationships]] between the different groups of Neopterygii is summarized in the [[cladogram]] below ([[divergent evolution|divergence]] time for each [[clade]] in [[myr|mya]] are based on<ref name=PNAS>{{cite journal |title=Resolution of ray-finned fish phylogeny and timing of diversification |author=Thomas J. Near |journal=PNAS |doi=10.1073/pnas.1206625109 |date=2012 |volume=109 |issue=34 |pages=13698–13703|display-authors=etal |pmid=22869754 |pmc=3427055|bibcode=2012PNAS..10913698N |doi-access=free }}</ref>).

{{clade
| label1='''Neopterygii''' 360 [[myr|mya]]
| 1={{clade
  |label1=[[Holostei]] 275 [[myr|mya]]
  |1={{clade
    |1=[[Ginglymodi]] [[File:Alligator gar fish (white background).jpg|130px]] (7 living [[species]]: [[gar]]s and [[alligator gar]]s)
    |2=[[Halecomorphi]] [[File:Amia calva (white background).jpg|130px]] (2 living species: [[bowfin]] and [[eyespot bowfin]])
     }}
    |label2=310 [[myr|mya]]
    |2=[[Teleostei]] [[File:Common carp (white background).jpg|130px]] (>32,000 living species)
   }} }}

Neopterygians are a very speciose group. They make up over 50% of the total [[vertebrate]] [[biodiversity|diversity]] today, and their diversity grew since the [[Mesozoic]] [[era (geology)|era]].<ref name="Friedman & Sallan 2012"/><ref name="Romano et al 2016">{{cite journal |last1=Romano |first1=Carlo |last2=Koot |first2=Martha B. |last3=Kogan |first3=Ilja |last4=Brayard |first4=Arnaud |last5=Minikh |first5=Alla V. |last6=Brinkmann |first6=Winand |last7=Bucher |first7=Hugo |last8=Kriwet |first8=Jürgen |title=Permian-Triassic Osteichthyes (bony fishes): diversity dynamics and body size evolution |journal=Biological Reviews |date=February 2016 |volume=91 |issue=1 |pages=106–147 |doi=10.1111/brv.12161 |pmid=25431138 |s2cid=5332637 |url=https://hal.science/hal-01253154 }}</ref> However, the diversity of the various groups of neopterygians (or of [[fishes]] in general) is unevenly distributed, with teleosts making up the vast majority (96%) of living species.<ref name="Nelson 2016"/>
[[File:Watsonulus eugnathoides.png|thumb|[[Early Triassic]] [[Parasemionotiformes|parasemionotiform]] ''[[Watsonulus]]'' is an early neopterygian.]]

Early in their [[evolution]], neopterygians were a very successful group of fish, because they could move more rapidly than their ancestors. Their scales and skeletons began to lighten during their evolution, and their jaws became more powerful and efficient.<ref name="Nelson 2016"/> While [[electroreception]] and the [[ampullae of Lorenzini]] are present in all other extant groups of fish (except for [[hagfish]]), neopterygians have lost this sense, even if it has later re-evolved within [[Gymnotiformes]] and [[catfish]]es, which possess [[homoplasy|non-homologous]] teleost ampullae.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=d1-rak1asv0C&dq=Electroreception+Neopterygii&pg=PA229 Electroreception By Theodore Holmes Bullock]</ref>

Only a few changes occurred during the evolution of neopterygians from the earlier [[Actinopterygii|actinopterygians]]. However, a very important step in the evolution of neopterygians is the acquisition of a better control of the movements of both [[dorsal fin|dorsal]] and [[anal fin]]s, resulting in an improvement in their swimming capabilities. They additionally acquired several modifications in the [[skull]], which allowed the evolution of different [[feeding]] mechanisms and consequently the colonization of new ecological [[ecological niche|niche]]s. All of these characters represented major improvements, resulting in Neopterygii becoming the dominant group of fishes (and, thus, [[taxonomy|taxonomically]] of [[vertebrates]] in general) today.<ref name="Friedman & Sallan 2012"/>

The great diversity of extant teleosts has been linked to a [[Paleopolyploidy|whole genome duplication]] event during their evolution.<ref name="Pasquier et al 2017">{{cite journal |last1=Pasquier |first1=Jeremy |last2=Braasch |first2=Ingo |last3=Batzel |first3=Peter |last4=Cabau |first4=Cedric |last5=Montfort |first5=Jérome |last6=Nguyen |first6=Thaovi |last7=Jouanno |first7=Elodie |last8=Berthelot |first8=Camille |last9=Klopp |first9=Christophe |last10=Journot |first10=Laurent  |last11=Postlethwai |first11=John H. |last12=Guigue |first12=Yann |last13=Bob |first13= Julien |title=Evolution of gene expression after whole-genome duplication: new insights from the spotted gar genome |journal=J Exp Zool (Mol Dev Evol) |date=2017 |volume=328 |issue=7 |pages=709–721 |doi=10.1002/jez.b.22770|pmid=28944589 |pmc=5679426 |bibcode=2017JEZB..328..709P }}</ref>
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