Chondrosteus
| Chondrosteus Temporal range: | |
|---|---|
| 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 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. Chondrosteus is related to sturgeons and paddlefishes as part of the clade Acipenseriformes. 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.
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.