<P> Bony fishes , class Osteichthyes , are characterised by bony skeleton rather than cartilage . They appeared in the late Silurian , about 419 million years ago . The recent discovery of Entelognathus strongly suggests that bony fishes ( and possibly cartilaginous fishes , via acanthodians ) evolved from early placoderms . A subclass of the Osteichthyes , the ray - finned fishes ( Actinopterygii ) , have become the dominant group of fishes in the post-Paleozoic and modern world , with some 30,000 living species . </P>
<P> Bony fishes , class Osteichthyes , are characterised by bony skeleton rather than cartilage . They appeared in the late Silurian , about 419 million years ago . The recent discovery of Entelognathus strongly suggests that bony fishes ( and possibly cartilaginous fishes , via acanthodians ) evolved from early placoderms . A subclass of the Osteichthyes , the ray - finned fishes ( Actinopterygii ) , have become the dominant group of fishes in the post-Paleozoic and modern world , with some 30,000 living species . </P>
when did the first bony fish appear on earth
when did the first bony fish appear on earth
about 419 million years ago
about 419 million years ago