Suckers (Fish, Catostomidae) from the Eocene of China account for the family's current disjunct distributions

Unequivocal Eocene suckers from China are for the first time reported here. This discovery demonstrates that catostomids of the Eocene Epoch (some 55- 35 Ma ago) are scattered widely on mainland Asia as well as western North A merica. The present day disjunct distribution pattern of catostomids, with 68 extant species widespread in North America and the northern part of Midd le America and only two in the restricted areas of Asia, is the result of t heir post-Eocene decline in Asia due to the competitive pressure from cypri nids, their Late Cenozoic radiation in North America, and the vicariant and dispersal events triggered by the changed biogeographic landscape. All of these prove to be a historical product of the geological, biological, and c limatic changes throughout the Cenozoic.