Chondrosteus

Chondrosteus is an extinct genus of ray-finned fish from the family Chondrosteidae that lived during the Lower Jurassic. It has a single species, C. acipenseroides. It is related to modern-day sturgeons and paddlefish.

Chondrosteus Temporal range: Hettangian to Sinemurian PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Chondrosteus acipenseroides fossil from Teylers Museum, Haarlem
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	†Chondrosteiformes
Family:	†Chondrosteidae
Genus:	†Chondrosteus Egerton, 1858 (ex Agassiz, 1834)
Species:	†C. acipenseroides
Binomial name
Chondrosteus acipenseroides Egerton, 1858 (ex Agassiz, 1834)
Synonyms
†C. crassior Egerton, 1858 †C. pachyurus Egerton, 1858

Description

Chondrosteus had a robust, shark-like body that was 1 meter long. Bizarrely, the ribs were missing. The basibranchial bone is ossified and the skin was not covered with scales.

Synonyms

• †Chondrosteus crassior Egerton, 1858
• †Chondrosteus pachyurus Egerton, 1858

Gallery

Chondrosteus acipenseroides fossil from Teylers Museum

Its skeletal system

References

1. Hilton, Eric J. (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". ResearchGate.
2. "Chondrosteus". Paleobiology Database. Retrieved 16 March 2012.

Fossil of tail

Other websites

• Data related to Chondrosteus at Wikidata