First Skeletal Fossil Record of the Red Seabream Pagrus major from Southern Taiwan

A rare, well-preserved fossil fish nodule from a late Pleistocene locality in Taiwan was described. The locality belongs to the Szekou Formation and is dated at 90–140 kyr. The fish fossil presents distinct dentition and jaw parts. Based on morphological analysis and comparison with 14 living sparid species in the area, the researchers were enabled to assign the fossil to the species Pagrus major. The occurrence is the first fossil evidence of the species in the region and indicates a neritic lagoonal paleoenvironment.

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