Chondrosteus

Chondrosteus; Temporal range: Sinemurian PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
	Chondrosteus acipenseroides fossil from Teylers Museum, Haarlem
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	†Chondrosteiformes
Family:	†Chondrosteidae
Genus:	†Chondrosteus; Agassiz, 1843
Type species
	†Chondrosteus acipenseroides; Agassiz, 1843
Other species
	†Chondrosteus pachyurus Egerton, 1858;

Chondrosteus is a genus of extinct actinopterygian (ray-finned fish) belonging to the family Chondrosteidae. It lived during the Sinemurian (early Early Jurassic) in what is now England.^[1] Chondrosteus is related to sturgeons and paddlefishes as part of the clade Acipenseriformes.^[2] Similar to sturgeons, the jaws of Chondrosteus were free from the rest of the skull (projectile jaw system). Its scale cover was reduced to the upper lobe of the caudal fin like in paddlefish.^[3]

The species Chondrosteus hindenburgi from the Toarcian (late Early Jurassic) of Germany was reallocated to the genus Strongylosteus. Although some authors have suggested that the latter might be a junior synonym of Chondrosteus, there are no recent comparative studies on these two genera.^[3]

References[edit]

^ "Chondrosteus". Paleobiology Database. Retrieved March 16, 2012.
^ Hilton, Eric J.; Forey, Peter L. (2009). "Redescription of †Chondrosteus acipenseroides Egerton, 1858 (Acipenseriformes, †Chondrosteidae) from the lower Lias of Lyme Regis (Dorset, England), with comments on the early evolution of sturgeons and paddlefishes". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 7 (4): 427–453. doi:10.1017/S1477201909002740. S2CID 86821521.
^ ^a ^b Bemis, William E.; Findeis, Eric K.; Grande, Lance (1997). "An overview of Acipenseriformes". Environmental Biology of Fishes. 48 (1–4): 25–71. doi:10.1023/A:1007370213924. S2CID 24961905.