Scheenstia

Scheenstia Temporal range: Late Jurassic–Early Cretaceous, 150–125 Ma PreЄ Є O S D C P T J K Pg N
Fossil specimen of S. maximus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	†Semionotiformes
Family:	†Semionotidae
Genus:	†Scheenstia López-Arbarello & Sferco, 2011
Type species
Scheenstia zappi López-Arbarello & Sferco, 2011
Species[1]
†S. mantelli (Agassiz, 1833) †S. laevis (Agassiz, 1837) †S. maximus (Wagner, 1863) †S. decoratus (Wagner, 1863) †S. degenhardti (Branco, 1885) †S. hauchecornei (Wagner, 1863) †S. zappi López-Arbarello & Sferco, 2011

Scheenstia is an extinct genus of neopterygian ray-finned fish from the Cretaceous period. Fossils have been found in Bavaria, France, and England.

Life restoration of S. maximus

Scheenstia is frequently pictured as the prey of the large dinosaur Baryonyx walkeri because the scales and teeth of these fish were found in the stomach region of a fossil B. walkeri specimen. The fish remains were previously referred to the related genus Lepidotes, but all Cretaceous species of that genus have since been re-classified as Scheenstia following detailed phylogenetic analysis.^[1]

Classification

Scheenstia is a genus of lepisosteiform that is related to the genus Lepidotes. The latter has been one of the greatest actinopterygian wastebasket taxa, with one 2012 study finding species referrable to a minimum of three different and distantly related genera. Scheenstia is also related to Isanichthys. A cladogram showing the relations of Neopterygii was published in the review, and a simplified version labelling the previous species of Lepidotes is shown here.^[1]

References