Ceratodus (from and ) is an extinct genus of freshwater lungfish that was found worldwide during the Mesozoic Era. It has been described as a "catch all", and a "form genus" used to refer to the remains, typically toothplates, of a variety of lungfish belonging to the extinct family Ceratodontidae. Fossil evidence dates back to the Early Triassic. A wide range of fossil species from different time periods have been found around the world in places such as the United States, Brazil, Argentina, Greenland, England, Germany, Egypt, Madagascar, China, and Australia.Agnolin, F. L., Mateus O., Milàn J., Marzola M., Wings O., Adolfssen J. S., & Clemmensen L. B. (2018). Ceratodus tunuensis, sp. nov., a new lungfish (Sarcopterygii, Dipnoi) from the Upper Triassic of central East Greenland. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. e1439834 Ceratodus is believed to have become extinct sometime around the beginning of the Eocene Epoch.
Species The following species are known: C. latissimus Agassiz, 1837 (type species) - Late Triassic (Rhaetian) of England (Westbury Formation) C. eruciferus Cope, 1876 (nomen dubium)Cope E.D. (1876) Descriptions of some vertebrate remains from the Fort Union beds of Montana. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, v. 1876, p. 248–261. C. robustus Knight, 1898 - Late Jurassic (Kimmeridgian/Tithonian) of Wyoming, US (Morrison Formation)Knight W.C. (1898) Some new Jurassic vertebrates from Wyoming: American. Journal of Science, ser. 4, v. 5, p. 186. C. africanus Haug, 1905 C. avus W. H. Ferguson 1906 - Early Cretaceous (Aptian) of Victoria, Australia (Wonthaggi Formation) C. humei Priem, 1914 - Late Cretaceous (Campanian) of Egypt (Mut Formation) C. elegans Vollrath, 1923Ceratodus elegans n. sp. aus dem Stubensandstein. P Vollrath, Jahresberichte und Mitteilungen des Oberrheinischen …, 1923 C. frazieri Ostrom, 1970 - Early Cretaceous (Aptian/Albian) of Wyoming & Montana, US (Cloverly Formation), potentially Campanian of New Jersey, US (Mount Laurel Formation)Ostrom J.H. (1970) Stratigraphy and paleontology of the Cloverly Formation (Lower Cretaceous) of the Bighorn Basin area, Montana and Wyoming: Peabody Museum of Natural History Bulletin, v. 35, 234 p. C. gustasoni Kirkland, 1987 - Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian) of Utah, US (Naturita Formation)Kirkland J.I. (1987) Upper Jurassic and Cretaceous lungfish tooth plates from the Western Interior, the last dipnoan faunas of North America. Hunteria, v. 2, p. 1–16. C. fossanovum Kirkland, 1998Kirkland J.I. (1998) Morrison fishes. Modern Geology, v. 22, p. 503–533. C. ibimiriensis - Late Jurassic (Tithonian) of Pernambuco, Brazil (Aliança Formation) C. stewarti Milner & Kirkland, 2006 - Early Jurassic (Hettangian to Sinemurian) of Utah, US (Moenave and Kayenta Formations)Milner A.C., and Kirkland J.I. (2006). Preliminary review of the Early Jurassic (Hettangian) freshwater Lake Dixie fish fauna in the Whitmore Point Member, Moenave Formation in southwestern Utah. New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin, v. 37, p. 510–521. C. texanus Parris et al., 2011 - Aptian/Albian of Texas, US (Antlers and Twin Mountains Formations)Parris D.C., Grandstaff B.S., and Banks N.T. (2011). Lungfishes from the Trinity Group (Cretaceous) of North Texas. Texas Journal of Science, 63. C. carteri Main et al., 2014 - Cenomanian of Texas, US (Woodbine Formation)Main D.J., Parris D.C., Grandstaff B.S., and Carter B. (2014). A new lungfish (Dipnoi: Ceratodontidae) from the Cretaceous Woodbine Formation, Arlington Archosaur Site, north Texas. Texas Journal of Science, v. 63, p. 283–298. C. kranzi Frederickson et al., 2016 - Albian of Maryland, US (Arundel Formation)Frederickson J.A., Lipka T. R., and Cifelli R.L. (2016). A new species of the lungfish Ceratodus (Dipnoi) from the Early Cretaceous of the eastern U.S.A. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. Online edition: e1136316. doi:10.1080/02724634.2016.1136316. C. kirklandi Frederickson & Cifelli, 2016 - Early Cretaceous (Valanginian) of Utah, US (Cedar Mountain Formation) C. molossus Frederickson & Cifelli, 2016 - Cenomanian of Utah, US (Cedar Mountain Formation) C. kempae Frederickson & Cifelli, 2016 - Valanginian of Utah, US (Cedar Mountain Formation) C. nirumbee Frederickson & Cifelli, 2016 - Albian of Montana, US (Cloverly Formation) C. tunuensis Agnolin et al., 2018 - Late Triassic (Norian) of Greenland (Fleming Fjord Formation) C. guanganensis Wang et al., 2022 - Late Jurassic of China (Shaximiao Formation) C. shishkini Minikh, 2023 - Middle/Late Triassic (Ladinian/Carnian) of Orenburg, Russia
Palaeoecology Ceratodus likely fed on bivalves, as scarring on the shells of non-marine bivalves from a clay pit near Lipie Śląskie in southern Poland has been attributed to an unsuccessful predatory attack by Ceratodus.
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References
Ceratodus at The Paleobiology Database