Lepidotidae is an extinct family of fish, known from the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. Most species were originally assigned to the genus Lepidotes which was long considered a wastebasket taxon. Cladistic analysis has indicated that they are close relatives of gars, with both being members of the order Lepisosteiformes. Members of the family are known from both marine and freshwater environments.[1] Their bulky body morphology and small median fins suggests that they were slow-moving fish that were capable of performing fine movements in order to grasp prey.[2] Lepidotes sensu stricto had peg-like grasping marginal teeth and crushing palatal teeth, and is known to have consumed small crustaceans,[3] while Scheenstia had low rounded crushing marginal teeth, indicating a durophagous diet.[4]
| Lepidotidae Temporal range:
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| Fossil of Scheenstia maximus | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Clade: | Ginglymodi |
| Order: | Lepisosteiformes |
| Family: | †Lepidotidae Owen, 1860 |
| Genera | |
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See text | |
Taxonomy
edit- Camerichthys Bermúdez-Rochas & Poyato-Ariza, 2015
- Isanichthys Cavin and Suteethorn, 2006
- Lepidotes Agassiz, 1832
- Mengius Thies et al., 2024[5]
- Scheenstia López-Arbarello & Sferco, 2011
References
edit- ^ 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. S2CID 199631685.
- ^ Cawley, John J.; Marramà, Giuseppe; Carnevale, Giorgio; Villafaña, Jaime A.; López‐Romero, Faviel A.; Kriwet, Jürgen (February 2021). "Rise and fall of †Pycnodontiformes: Diversity, competition and extinction of a successful fish clade". Ecology and Evolution. 11 (4): 1769–1796. doi:10.1002/ece3.7168. ISSN 2045-7758. PMC 7882952. PMID 33614003.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Leuzinger, Léa; Cavin, Lionel; López‐Arbarello, Adriana; Billon‐Bruyat, Jean‐Paul (January 2020). Smith, Andrew (ed.). "Peculiar tooth renewal in a Jurassic ray‐finned fish (Lepisosteiformes, † Scheenstia sp.)". Palaeontology. 63 (1): 117–129. doi:10.1111/pala.12446. ISSN 0031-0239.
- ^ Thies, D.; Stevens, K.; Ansorge, J. (2024). "A new lepisosteiform neopterygian (Actinopterygii) from the lower Toarcian Grimmen Formation (Lower Jurassic) of Mecklenburg and Western Pomerania, Germany". PalZ. doi:10.1007/s12542-023-00683-5.