Bawitius

Reconstruction of Bawitius bartheli, the gargantuan polypterid.

Bawitius is an extinct genus of giant bichir from the Upper Cretaceous. The type species is B. bartheli.

Description

Compared to modern bichirs, Bawitius was an enormous, monster-sized polypterid. The scales were different, apart from size, from those of modern bichirs: they feature a discontinuous ganoine layer, a rectilinear shape, and small articular processes.

References

  1. Grandstaff, B. S; Smith, J. B.; Lamanna, M. C.; Lacovara, K. J.; Abdel-Ghani, M. S. (2012). "Bawitius, gen. nov., a giant polypterid (Osteichthyes, Actinopterygii) from the Upper Cretaceous Bahariya Formation of Egypt". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 32 (1): 17–26.
  2. Schaal, S. (1984). Oberkretazische Osteichthyes (Knochenfische) aus dem Bereich von Bahariya und Kharge, Ägypten, und ihre Aussagen zur Palökologie und Stratigraphie. Berliner Geowissenschaftliche Abhandlungen Reihe A, 53: 1–76.