Paralepidosteus

## Atractosteus africanus

P. africanus based on 3 meter long estimates, which are unlikely. Credit: Joschua Knüppe.

## Statistics

### Species

*P. africanus
P. praecursor
P. cacemensis*

### Diet

Carnivorous

*Paralepidosteus* is a dubious genus of gar that lived in Niger, France, the Congo and Portugal from the Middle to Late Cretaceous.

## History

Camille Arambourg and Léonce Joleaud (1943) described material collected from Damergou, a site of an age suggested to be Campanian, Albian, "Senonian" or Santonian. The site, though enigmatic in age, appears to be earlier than the Kem Kem and the Bahariya Formation. They designated trunk vertebrae MNHN N.27 and MNHN N.28 and lacrimomaxilla MNHN N.37 as the syntypes of a new species. *P. africanus*. *P. praecursor* of the Lower Cretaceous Congo was named by Casier (1961) from two isolate vertebrae and *P. cacemensis* was named from the Cenomanian of Portugal based on vertebrae, scales and a jaw fragment by Jonet (1981).

Multiple authors suggested it was synonymous with *Atractosteus*, where the nomen *"A." africanus* became normalized over time. Calvin, Martin and Valentin (1996) described depisosteid material from the Lower Cretaceous of France (scales, lacrimomaxillae and cranial fragments) referring them to *P. africanus*. Gayet and Meunier (2001) examined the referred elements and determined taht it was valid based on lacrimomaxillae ornamentation and due to very large vertebrae, though they believed that French material was unable to be referred to either genus and may have been *Lepisosteus* or a new genus based on scale morphology. They also found *P. praecursor* was valid based on scale microstructure, referring isolate scales from the Maastrichtian of Bolivia, Brazil and India to the genus.

## Description

Grande (2010) renders the genus dubious based on fragmentary material. He finds that previous diagnoses are unsatisfactory, since the supposed differentiated bony ridge pattern on the lacromaxilla, which he instead suggests the material is Lepisosteidae indet., not referable to any genus. He also finds the French material to be weak for a specific designation and implies that it is dubious as well. Grande finds that *P. praecursor* can not be adequately diagnosed, referring it to Lepisosteoidea (=Lepisosteiformes) indet., fully invalidating the genus *Paralepidosteus*. However, other factors of the taxon's validity were not taken into consideration by Grande. *P. cacemensis* was not mentioned in this study, but it was suggested by be dubious and possibly chimeric, with scales notably similar to *Dentilepisosteus kemkemensis*. Wiley (1976) notes larger vertebrae than *Atractosteus* and states that they are 4.1 centimeters along the ventral, suggesting a length of 3.5 meters (exceeding *A. spatula*). However, Grande notes vertebrae no larger than *A. spatula*, probably referring to individuals over 2 meters long. Calvin et al. (2021) estimates a 2.8 meter length based on vertebrae. Thus, it is unsure if if it was one of the largest gars, though it was still large. Fragmentary large gars of the Kem Kem are known, though they are from various taxa or are nondiagnostic.

## References

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atractosteus\_africanus
* https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0195667120304225?dgcid=rss\_sd\_all
* https://www.researchgate.net/publication/285702684\_Occurence\_of\_Atractosteus\_africanus\_actinopterygii\_lepisosteidae\_in\_the\_early\_campanian\_of\_ventabren\_Bouches-du-Rhone\_France\_Paleobiogeographical\_implications
* https://notesofbonestodustoff.wordpress.com/2022/03/20/paralepidosteus-africanus-the-false-giant-of-cretaceous-north-africas-waters/