Lepidotes

Lepidotes
Temporal range: Upper Jurassic
Lepidotes gigas
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Chordata
Class:
Actinopterygii
Order:
Lepisosteiformes
Family:
†Lepidotidae
Genus:
†Lepidotes

Agassiz, 1832
Type species
†Lepidotes gigas
Agassiz, 1832

Lepidotes (from Greek: λεπιδωτός lepidōtós, 'covered with scales') is an extinct genus of prehistoric ray-finned fish. Fossils have been found in Jurassic and Cretaceous rocks. It is a member of the Lepidotidae and has long been called a wastebasket taxon. It was originally known as Lepidotus.

Description

Lepidotes was 30 cm (12 in) long. It is one example of a fish that didn't have the upper jawbones attached to the jugal bone. Some fish still have this feature, such as carp from the family Cyprinidae. It had a scaly and slightly elongated body. It had shiny scales with just a few punctures. Lepidotes likely ate soft-bodied animals, as shown from stomach contents. It lived in both freshwater lakes and shallow seas.

Taxonomy

Species

Four species are known:

Synonyms

Some species

Lepidotes gigas

Life restoration of Lepidotes gigas

Lepidotes gigas is the type species of this genus. It is known from the Lower Jurassic of Germany.

Lepidotes bülowianus

Lepidotes bülowianus is another species of this genus. It is known from the Lower Jurassic of Germany.

Reassigned species

Lepidotes latifrons is now a species of Isanichthys. Most of the species have been reassigned to Scheenstia. As a result, only four species are found in this genus

References

  1. López-Arbarello, Adriana (2012-07-11). Steinke, Dirk (ed.). "Phylogenetic Interrelationships of Ginglymodian Fishes (Actinopterygii: Neopterygii)". PLOS ONE. 7 (7): e39370. Bibcode:2012PLoSO...739370L. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0039370. ISSN 1932-6203. PMC 3394768. PMID 22808031.
  2. John G. Maisey, Discovering Fossil Fishes, 1996:150, 152.
  3. Bonde, N.; Cristiansen, P. (2003). "New dinosaurs from Denmark". Comptes Rendus Palevol. 2. 2 (13): 13–26. Bibcode:2003CRPal...2...13B. doi:10.1016/S1631-0683(03)00009-5.
  4. Clemmensen, Lars B.; Milàn, Jesper; Adolfssen, Jan Schulz; Estrup, Eliza Jarl; Frobøse, Nicolai; Klein, Nicole; Mateus, Octávio; Wings, Oliver (2015-12-16). "The vertebrate-bearing Late Triassic Fleming Fjord Formation of central East Greenland revisited: stratigraphy, palaeoclimate and new palaeontological data". Geological Society, London, Special Publications. 434 (1): 31–47. doi:10.1144/sp434.3. ISSN 0305-8719. S2CID 130069487.
  5. Palmer, D., ed. (1999). The Marshall Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals. London: Marshall Editions. p. 37. ISBN 1-84028-152-9.
  6. Lambe, L.M. (1902). "New Genera and Species from the Belly River Series (mid cretaceous)". Geological Survey of Canada. Contributions to Canadian Palaeontology. 3: 25–81.
  7. Thies, Detlev; Stevens, Kevin; Stumpf, Sebastian (2021-06-03). "Stomach contents of the Early Jurassic fish † Lepidotes Agassiz, 1832 (Actinopterygii, Lepisosteiformes) and their palaeoecological implications". Historical Biology. 33 (6): 868–879. doi:10.1080/08912963.2019.1665040. ISSN 0891-2963. S2CID 203892069.
  8. Cavin, Lionel; Deesri, Uthumporn; Suteethorn, Varavudh (January 2013). "Osteology and relationships of Thaiichthys nov. gen.: a Ginglymodi from the Late Jurassic - Early Cretaceous of Thailand: GINGLYMODI FROM THE MESOZOIC OF THAILAND". Palaeontology. 56 (1): 183–208. doi:10.1111/j.1475-4983.2012.01184.x.
  1. ↑ "Jahrbuch für Mineralogie, Geognosie, Geologie und Petrefaktenkunde": 145 – via Google Books. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  2. ↑ Cavin, Lionel; Deesri, Uthumporn; Olive, Sébastien (2020). "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. Bibcode:2020JSPal..18..513C. doi:10.1080/14772019.2019.1634649.
  3. ↑ "Lepidotes Hunterian Museum Geology Collections". Archived from the original on 2017-03-12. Retrieved 2026-08-18.
  4. ↑ Palmer, D. (1999). The Marshall Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals. London: Marshall Editions. p. 37. ISBN 1-84028-152-9.

Other websites

Media related to Lepidotes at Wikimedia Commons