An Oplegnathid beak (Osteichthyes: Perciformes) from the Early Miocene of Patagonia. Extirpation of several vertebrates from southern Atlantic Ocean1,<fn id="FN1"><no>1</no>Due to a technical problem, one of the author names was cancelled. The first page of the article is thus reprinted, with the both author names and addresses. The publisher and the editor apologize for this trouble.</fn>

The first record of the knifejaw family Oplegnathidae in the Atlantic Ocean and in South America is reported. It comes from the early Miocene Gaiman Formation lowermost beds at the lower Ri´o Chubut valley, central-eastern Patagonia. Family Oplegnathidae does not occur in the Atlantic today, but it was widespread in comparison to other knifejaw fishes such as scarids and odacids. Several aquatic vertebrates were extirpated from the southern Atlantic Ocean in the late Neogene. This record establishes a minimal age (early Miocene) for the extirpation of the family Oplegnathidae in the Atlantic Ocean. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]