Lepidotes

***Lepidotes*** (from  *lepidōtós*, 'covered with scales') is an extinct genus of prehistoric ray-finned fish. Fossils have been found in Jurassic and Cretaceous rocks. It is a member of the Lepidotidae and has long been called a wastebasket taxon. It was originally called ***Lepidotus***.

## Description 
*Lepidotes* was 30 cm (12 in) long. It is one example of a fish that didn't have the upper jawbones attached to the jugal bone. Some fish still have this feature, such as carp from the family Cyprinidae. It had a scaly and slightly elongated body. It had shiny scales with just a few punctures. *Lepidotes* likely ate soft-bodied animals, as shown from stomach contents. It lived in both freshwater lakes and shallow seas.

## Taxonomy 
### Species 
Four species are known:

* †*Lepidotes elvensis* Blainville, 1818
* †*Lepidotes gigas* Agassiz, 1832 (type species)
* †*Lepidotes semiserratus* Agassiz, 1836
* †*Lepidotes bülowianus* Jaekel, 1929

### Synonyms 
* *Lepidosaurus* Meyer, 1833
* *Lepidotus* (former name)
* *Serobodus* Münster, 1812
* *Sphaerodus* Agassiz, 1833
* *Plesiodus* Wagner, 1863
* *Prolepidotus* Zeitschr, 1983

## Some species 
### *Lepidotes gigas* 
*Lepidotes gigas* is the type species of this genus. It is known from the Lower Jurassic of Germany.

### *Lepidotes bülowianus* 
*Lepidotes bülowianus* is another species of this genus. It is known from the Lower Jurassic of Germany.

## Reassigned species 
*Lepidotes latifrons* is now a species of *Isanichthys*. Most of the species have been reassigned to *Scheenstia*. As a result, only four species are found in this genus

## Related pages 
* Scheenstia

## References 
# López-Arbarello, Adriana (2012-07-11). Steinke, Dirk (ed.). "Phylogenetic Interrelationships of Ginglymodian Fishes (Actinopterygii: Neopterygii)". *PLOS ONE*. **7** (7): e39370. Bibcode:2012PLoSO...739370L. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0039370. ISSN 1932-6203. PMC 3394768. .
# John G. Maisey, Discovering Fossil Fishes, 1996:150, 152.
# Bonde, N.; Cristiansen, P. (2003). "New dinosaurs from Denmark". Comptes Rendus Palevol. 2. 2 (13): 13–26. Bibcode:2003CRPal...2...13B. doi:10.1016/S1631-0683(03)00009-5.
# Clemmensen, Lars B.; Milàn, Jesper; Adolfssen, Jan Schulz; Estrup, Eliza Jarl; Frobøse, Nicolai; Klein, Nicole; Mateus, Octávio; Wings, Oliver (2015-12-16). "The vertebrate-bearing Late Triassic Fleming Fjord Formation of central East Greenland revisited: stratigraphy, palaeoclimate and new palaeontological data". Geological Society, London, Special Publications. 434 (1): 31–47. doi:10.1144/sp434.3. ISSN 0305-8719. S2CID 130069487.
# Palmer, D., ed. (1999). The Marshall Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals. London: Marshall Editions. p. 37. .
# Lambe, L.M. (1902). "New Genera and Species from the Belly River Series (mid cretaceous)". Geological Survey of Canada. Contributions to Canadian Palaeontology. 3: 25–81.
# Thies, Detlev; Stevens, Kevin; Stumpf, Sebastian (2021-06-03). "Stomach contents of the Early Jurassic fish † Lepidotes Agassiz, 1832 (Actinopterygii, Lepisosteiformes) and their palaeoecological implications". Historical Biology. 33 (6): 868–879. doi:10.1080/08912963.2019.1665040. ISSN 0891-2963. S2CID 203892069.
# Cavin, Lionel; Deesri, Uthumporn; Suteethorn, Varavudh (January 2013). "Osteology and relationships of Thaiichthys nov. gen.: a Ginglymodi from the Late Jurassic - Early Cretaceous of Thailand: GINGLYMODI FROM THE MESOZOIC OF THAILAND". Palaeontology. 56 (1): 183–208. doi:10.1111/j.1475-4983.2012.01184.x.