Avitoluvarus

{{Short description|Extinct genus of fishes}}

{{Automatic taxobox

| fossil_range = {{fossil range|56.0|38.0}}Ypresian to Bartonian

| image = Avitoluvarus_M_D_recon.JPG

| image_caption = A. dianae and A. mariannae

| taxon = Avitoluvarus

| authority = Bannikov & Tyler, 1995

| subdivision_ranks = Species

| subdivision = See text

}}

Avitoluvarus ("ancient louvar") is a genus of extinct louvar that lived in the Peri-Tethys Sea during the early Paleogene.{{Cite web |title=PBDB |url=https://paleobiodb.org/classic/basicTaxonInfo?taxon_no=35955 |access-date=2024-02-26 |website=paleobiodb.org}} The first specimens were found from the Danata Formation Lagerstätten, of the Ypresian age of Turkmenistan, where they were originally thought to be smaller or juvenile individuals of the true louvar, Luvarus necopinatus. These specimens were later reexamined, and determined to be a separate genus comprising two species.{{cite journal |last1=Bannikov |first1=Alexandre F. |last2=Tyler |first2=James C. |date=1995 |title=Phylogenetic Revision of the Fish Families Luvaridae and †Kushlukiidae (Acanthuroidei), with a New Genus and Two New Species of Eocene Luvarids |place=Washington, D.C. |publisher=Smithsonian Institution |journal=Smithsonian Contributions to Paleobiology |volume=81 |issue=81 |pages=1–45 |doi=10.5479/si.00810266.81.1 |doi-access=free |hdl=10088/19149 }}

A third species, A. eocaenicus is known from the Middle Eocene of the Kumsky Horizon, in what is now the Northern Caucasus Mountains in Southwestern Russia.{{Cite journal |last1=Bannikov |first1=Alexandre F. |last2=Tyler |first2=James C. |date=2001 |title=A New Species Of The Luvarid Fish Genus Avitoluvarus (Acanthuroidei : Perciformes) From The Eocene Of The Caucasus In Southwest Russia |journal=Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington |volume=114 |pages=579–588 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/part/43971}} Indeterminate remains are also known from the Ypresian Gerpegezh locality in Russia.{{Cite journal |last1=Bannikov |first1=A. F. |last2=Erebakan |first2=I. G. |date=2023-10-01 |title=On the Evolution of Some Groups of Marine Bony Fishes in the Cenozoic of the Tethys and Paratethys |journal=Paleontological Journal |volume=57 |issue=5 |pages=475–490 |doi=10.1134/S0031030123050015 |issn=1555-6174 |language=en}}

The following species are known:

• A. dianae Bannikov & Tyler, 1995 - Ypresian of Turkmenistan
• A. eocaenicus Bannikov & Tyler, 2001 - Bartonian of Russia
• A. marianae Bannikov & Tyler, 1995 - Ypresian of Turkmenistan

Avitoluvarus differs from modern louvars in that the former's forehead does not bulge out as much, giving the appearance of having the face appear higher.