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When do the earliest known gasterosteiform fossils appear in the fossil record?
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gasterosteiform
Lined seahorse (Hippocampus erectus).
The earliest known fossils of the order Gasterosteiformes appear in rock strata from the Paleogene Period, which dates from approximately 65.5 to 23 million years ago.1
While paleontological data for this group is limited, many fossil remains have been recovered from the Eocene and Oligocene epochs (55.8 to 23 million years ago), particularly in the Monte Bolca region near Verona, Italy. These deposits contain various extinct and extant representatives of the order, including members of the family Protosyngnathidae, as well as early forms of trumpetfish, cornetfish, and shrimpfish.1