Atractosteus africanus

Atractosteus africanus Temporal range: Middle to late Cretaceous
Fossil jaw of Atractosteus africanus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Lepisosteiformes
Family:	Lepisosteidae
Genus:	Atractosteus
Species:	A. africanus
Binomial name
Atractosteus africanus Arambourg & Joleaud, 1943

Atractosteus africanus is an extinct species of gar from the Cretaceous period of Niger and France. It lived until the end of the Cretaceous, during the Maastrichtian.

Description

It was a large gar. It had a broad snout and long, sharp teeth. The body was torpedo-shaped, like today's gars.

Related pages

• List of prehistoric bony fish genera
• Leedsichthys
• Aeoliscoides

References

1. "Lepisosteiformes Hay, 1929". Biolibz.
2. "Ventabren (Cretaceous of France)". PBDB.
3. Cavin, Lionel; Valentin, Xavier; Martin, M. (January 1996). "Occurence [sic] of Atractosteus africanus (actinopterygii, lepisosteidae) in the early campanian of ventabren (Bouches-du-Rhône, France). Paleobiogeographical implications". Revue de Paléobiologie. 15 (1): 1–7 – via ResearchGate.
4. "Late Cretaceous (Santonian) Atractosteus (Actinopterygii, Lepisosteidae) remains from 2 Hungary (Iharkút, Bakony Mountains)" (PDF).