Lepidotes

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Lepidotes Fossil range: Late Triassic to Early Cretaceous
Conservation status
Fossil
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Actinopterygii Order: Semionotiformes Genus: Lepidotes

Lepidotes is an extinct genus of ray-finned fish from the Mesozoic era. It was about 30 cm (1 ft) long.

Lepidotes introduced a new type of jaw anatomy; the upper jawbones were no longer attached to the zygomatic bone, allowing the jaws to be stretched into a 'tube' which meant that the fish could suck in prey from a greater distance than previous species. This system is still seen in some modern fish such as carps.

Lepidotes is frequently pictured as the prey of the large dinosaur Baryonyx because its scales were found in the stomach region of a fossil Baryonyx. Lepidotes (sometimes written Lepidotus) is a Jurassic and Cretaceous bony fish related to modern gars. Inhabiting both freshwater lakes and shallow seas, Lepidotes occasionally grew to over two metres in length. The body was covered with thick, enamelled scales. Batteries of peg-like teeth enabled Lepidotes to crush the shells of its molluscan prey.