Osteolepiformes

Osteolepiformes, also known as Osteolepidida, is a group of prehistoric lobe-finned fishes which first appeared during the Devonian period. The order contains the families Canowindridae, Megalichthyidae, Osteolepididae and Tristichopteridae, in addition to several monotypic families. The order is generally considered to be paraphyletic because the characters that define it are mainly attributes of stem tetrapodomorphs.

The following taxonomy is based on Borgen & Nakrem, 2016:


 * Order Osteolepiformes
 * Suborder Osteolepidoidei
 * Family Osteolepididae
 * Family Thursiidae
 * Family Megalichthyidae
 * Suborder Cyclolepidoidei
 * Superfamily Eopodoidea
 * Family Chrysolepididae
 * Family Gyroptychiidae
 * Family Panderichthyidae (incl. Elpistostegalia)
 * Family Tristichopteridae
 * Superfamily Parapodoidea
 * Family Canowindridae
 * Family Medoevididae
 * Superfamily Rhizodontoidea

Below is a cladogram showing the paraphyly of Osteolepiformes compiled and modified from Ahlberg and Johanson (1998). See also Swartz (2012). Osteolepiformes is marked by the green bracket.