Lepidotidae
family of fossil fish
Lepidotidae is an extinct family of ray-finned fish in the order Lepisosteiformes. Most of the species were assigned to the genus Lepidotes, which was called a wastebasket taxon for a long time. They are close relatives of the gars. Members live in marine and freshwater environments.[1]
| Lepidotidae Temporal range:
| |
|---|---|
| |
| Fossil of Scheenstia maximus | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Lepisosteiformes |
| Family: | †Lepidotidae Owen, 1860 |
| Genera | |
|
See text | |
Taxonomy
change- Lepidotes Agassiz, 1832
- Scheenstia López-Arbarello & Sferco, 2011
- Camerichthys Bermúdez-Rochas & Poyato-Ariza, 2015
- Isanichthys Cavin and Suteethorn, 2006
Description
changeRepresentatives of the family had bulky bodies and small fins, proving they swam slowly. Lepidotes had marginal teeth for grasping and palatal teeth for crushing prey. Scheenstia had rounded teeth that were historically called toadstones.
References
change- ↑ Cavin, Deesri & Olive 2020, pp. 513–527.
Sources
change- Cavin, Lionel; Deesri, Uthumporn; Olive, Sébastien (2020-03-18). "Scheenstia bernissartensis (Actinopterygii: Ginglymodi) from the Early Cretaceous of Bernissart, Belgium, with an appraisal of ginglymodian evolutionary history". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 18 (6): 513–527. doi:10.1080/14772019.2019.1634649. ISSN 1477-2019.