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Dorypterus; Temporal range: Lopingian; ~254.14–259.1 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
	Restoration of Dorypterus hoffmani
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	†Bobasatraniiformes
Family:	†Dorypteridae; Gill, 1925
Genus:	†Dorypterus; Germar, 1842
Type species
	†Dorypterus hoffmanni; Germar, 1842
Other species
	†D. althausi (Münster, 1842);

Dorypterus is a small, extinct genus of prehistoric ray-finned bony fish. It lived during the Wuchiapingian stage of the late Permian epoch in what is now Germany (Kupferschiefer) and England (Marl Slate).^[1] It is a hypsisomatic bobasatraniiform with a high dorsal fin. Due to anatomical differences with other bobasatraniiforms, such as the presence of pelvic fins and the reduced scale cover, Dorypterus is placed in its own monotypic family, Dorypteridae.

Two species are known, D. hoffmanni and D. althausi, which are distinguished by differences in length of the dorsal fin. Whereas D. hoffmanni has a long dorsal fin, the dorsal fin of D. althausi is short. However, it is possible that this difference is due to sexual dimorphism, and that D. althausi represents the female phenotype of D. hoffmanni.^[2]

References

^ Romano, Carlo; Koot, Martha B.; Kogan, Ilja; Brayard, Arnaud; Minikh, Alla V.; Brinkmann, Winand; Bucher, Hugo; Kriwet, Jürgen (February 2016). "Permian-Triassic Osteichthyes (bony fishes): diversity dynamics and body size evolution". Biological Reviews. 91 (1): 106–147. doi:10.1111/brv.12161. PMID 25431138. S2CID 5332637.
^ Schaumberg, Günther (1977). "Die Richelsdorfer Kupferschiefer und seine Fossilien, III". Aufschluss. 28: 297–352.