Leptolepis
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Leptolepis Fossil range: Mid Triassic to Early Cretaceous |
||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Leptolepis koonwarriensis
|
||||||||||||
| Conservation status | ||||||||||||
|
Fossil
|
||||||||||||
| Scientific classification | ||||||||||||
|
Leptolepis ("Delicate Scale") is an extinct genus of teleost ray-finned fish that lived in the Mesozoic era. It was about 30 cm (1 ft) long and one of the first teleosts.
Leptolepis was the first true bony fish to really live up to the name, possessing a skeleton completely made of bone (previous genera such as Pholidophorus had skeletons only partially composed of bone). Another modern development in Leptolepis were its scales, which lacked the covering still present in previous genera. These two developments made swimming easier, as the bony spine was now more resistant to the pressure caused by the S movements made while swimming. Mass graves of Leptolepis have indicated that it probably lived in schools which would provide some protection from predators while the creatures fed on surface plankton. Pelagosaurus was a known predator of Leptolepis after a Pelagosaurus fossil was found with Leptolepis remains in its stomach.
Leptolepis may have resembled the herring.
 |
This article about a prehistoric fish is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
