Babelichthys
 | This article relies largely or entirely on a single source. (August 2024) |
| Babelichthys Temporal range: Middle-Late Eocene
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| Part and counterpart slabs.
Scale bar = 20 mm | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Lampriformes |
| Family: | Lophotidae |
| Genus: | †Babelichthys Davesne 2017 |
| Type species | |
| Babelichthys olneyi Davesne 2017
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Babelichthys is an extinct genus of crestfish from Western Iran's Pabdeh Formation during the middle to late Eocene. One species is known: Babelichthys olneyi.[1]
The single known specimen consists of a head and the front-most region of the dorsal fin, preserving the extremely elongated and enlarged first dorsal-fin ray.[1]
It and the extant unicorn crestfish (Eumecichthys fiski) are each other's closest known relatives.[1]
Etymology
[edit]The genus name Babelichthys means “Babel fish” in Greek, named after the teleost-like, ear-dwelling, polyglot extraterrestrial species from The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, as a reference to the very peculiar, almost alien-like, appearance of the genus. The species name "olneyi" is named after John E. Olney for his work on the anatomy and ontogeny of Lampriformes.[1]