Calamopleurus is an prehistoric genus of marine holostean ray-finned fish from the Early Cretaceous of South America and northern Africa. It was a relative of the modern bowfin, with both belonging to the family Amiidae.[1]
| Calamopleurus Temporal range: | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Calamopleurus cylindricus | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Clade: | Halecomorphi |
| Order: | Amiiformes |
| Family: | Amiidae |
| Subfamily: | †Vidalamiinae |
| Genus: | †Calamopleurus Agassiz, 1841 |
| Type species | |
| Calamopleurus cylindricus Agassiz, 1841 | |
| Species | |
See text | |
It contains three species:[2][3]
- †C. africanus Forey & Grande, 1998 - Late Albian/Early Cenomanian of Morocco and Algeria[4]
- †C. cylindricus Agassiz, 1841 - Late Aptian/Early Albian of Brazil (Crato and Santana Formations)
- †C. mawsoni Woodward, 1902 - Late Hauterivian/Early Barremian of Brazil (Bahia Group)
It is thought to be the sister genus to Maliamia, the last surviving member of the vidalamiines, which is the largely marine amiid group that also contained Calamopleurus. Both are placed in the tribe Calamopleurini.[1]
C. cylindricus was among the largest known amiids, rivaling the giant Paleocene bowfin Amia pattersoni in size. However, both were slightly smaller than Melvius and Amia basiloides, the two largest known amiids. It is one of the earliest known amiids to evolve a large body size.[5]
