The cladogram below shows the main clades of living actinopterygians and their evolutionary relationships to other extant groups of fishes and the four-limbed vertebrates (tetrapods). The latter include mostly terrestrial species but also groups that became secondarily aquatic (e.g. whales and dolphins). Tetrapods evolved from a group of bony fish during the Devonian period. Approximate divergence dates for the different actinopterygian clades (in millions of years, mya) are from Near et al., 2012.
the cladogram below shows the main clades of living actinopterygians and their evolutionary relationships to other extant groups of fishes and the four-limbed vertebrates (tetrapods) the latter include mostly terrestrial species but also groups that became secondarily aquatic (eg whales and dolphins) tetrapods evolved from a group of bony fish during the devonian period approximate divergence dates for the different actinopterygian clades (in millions of years mya) are from near et al 2012