Welcome to PrimitiveFishes.com!

This site is dedicated to the ecology, natural history, and conservation of “primitive” bony fishes: the lungfishes, bichirs, sturgeons, paddlefishes, gars, and bowfin. Thanks for visiting!

~Solomon R. David, Ph.D.

Introduction to Primitive Fishes

Generally speaking, non-teleost fishes that are the living representatives of ancient lineages are considered to be “primitive” or “living fossils”.  More derived fishes, such as cichlids, sunfishes, and perches, are generally considered to be “modern”.  These terms (primitive/ancient vs. modern) are not entirely accurate in terms of vertebrate evolution, and “more derived” and “less derived” are more often used in the scientific literature.

Phylogeny of Primitive Fishes*

*based on Ilves and Randall (2007)