What is Osteichthyes?
{{Automatic Taxobox | name = Bony fish | fossil_range = Late [[Silurian]] - Recent | image = Herring2.jpg | image_caption = Atlantic herring | taxon = Osteichthyes | authority = [[Thomas Henry Huxley|Huxley]], 1880 }} '''Osteichthyes''' are a taxonomic [[Superclass (biology)|superclass]] of [[fish]], also called ''bony fish'', that includes the ray-finned fish ([[Actinopterygii]]) and lobe finned fish ([[Sarcopterygii]]). The split between these two classes occurred around 440 million years ago. The Osteichthyes are [[Paraphyly|paraphyletic]] with land [[vertebrate]]s. This is why some classification schemes put the [[tetrapod]]s into the Osteichthyes. Osteichthyes are the most various group of vertebrates, consisting of over 29,000 species, making them the largest superclass of vertebrates in existence today. == Taxonomy == Osteichthyes has two [[Class (biology)|classes]]. They are the [[Actinopterygii]] and [[Sarcopterygii]]. * [[Actinopterygii]] – these are the '''ray-finned fishes'''. * [[Sarcopterygii]] – these are the '''lobe-finned fishes'''. There are only a few sarcopterygians that are still alive today. Most of them have gone extinct. [[category:Bony fish| ]] {{biology-stub}}