Eochondrosteus

Eochondrosteus (meaning "dawn Chondrosteus") is a genus of extinct marine actinopterygian (ray-finned fish), comprising one species, E. sinensis (monotypy) from the Early Triassic strata in Gansu Province (Beishan Hills), China (previously interpreted as Permian in age). It is suggested to be the most basal acipenseriform (sturgeon, paddlefish, and their fossil relatives).^[1] It was originally described in 2005,^[2] and then redescribed in 2020 in Chinese.^[1] Other authors have considered the placement of Eochondrosteus within the Acipenseriformes as tentative,^[3] or have expressed doubt about its placement in the order^[4]

Eochondrosteus Temporal range: Early Triassic PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Acipenseriformes
Genus:	†Eochondrosteus Lu, Li et Yang, 2005
Species:	†E. sinensis
Binomial name
†Eochondrosteus sinensis Lu, Li et Yang, 2005