Bachmannia chubutensis
| Bachmannia chubutensis Temporal range: Ypresian, | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Siluriformes |
| Suborder: | Diplomystoidei |
| Family: | †Bachmanniidae Azpelicueta & Cione, 2011 |
| Genus: | †Bachmannia Dolgopol, 1941 |
| Species: | †B. chubutensis |
| Binomial name | |
| †Bachmannia chubutensis Dolgopol, 1941 | |
| Synonyms | |
|
Arius argentinus Dolgopol, 1941 | |
Bachmannia is an extinct genus of ray-finned fish from the order of the catfishes (Siluriformes), containing a single species, B. chubutensis (syn.: Arius argentinus Dolgopol, 1941). Fossils of the species, dated to the early Eocene, were found in the Laguna del Hunco site, a caldera in the Argentinean province of Chubut, which is filled with fine-grained, layered mudstones and sandstones interspersed with pyroclastic deposits. The genus was named by Mathilde Dolgopol de Sáez, in honor of the German physician and naturalist Franz Ewald Theodor Bachmann.
Bachmannia chubutensis lived during the climatic optimum of the early Eocene. The Laguna del Hunco was located on the southern edge of the tropics, in a humid climate with a distinct maritime influence. Volcanic activity with the release of gases into the water led to regular mass deaths of fish.