Mawsonia (fish)

Mawsonia is an extinct genus of prehistoric coelacanth fish, and the largest of this group, ranging from an estimated up to long. It lived during the latest Jurassic to Cretaceous periods (Tithonian to Cenomanian stages, about 152 to 99 million years ago) of South America and Africa. Fossils have been found in the Bahia Group, Romualdo, Alcântara, Brejo Santo and Missão Velha Formations of Brazil, and the Tacuarembó Formation of Uruguay, South America, as well as the Continental Intercalaire of Algeria and Tunisia, the Ain el Guettar Formation of Tunisia, the Kem Kem Group of Morocco, and the Babouri Figuil Basin of Cameroon, Africa. "Mawsonia" was first described by British paleontologist Arthur Smith Woodward in 1907. The type species is Mawsonia gigas, named and described in 1907. Numerous distinct species have been described since then. "M". "brasiliensis", "M". "libyca", "M". "minor", and "M". "ubangiensis" have all been proposed to be synonyms of "M". "gigas", although Léo Fragoso's 2014 thesis on mawsoniids finds "M". "brasiliensis" valid and cautions against synonymizing "M". "minor" without further examination. Several recent publications consider "M". "brasiliensis" to be valid as well. Although initially considered to belong to this genus, "Mawsonia" "lavocati" is most likely referable to "Axelrodichthys" instead.
Description.
The fish has six fins: two on the top of the body, two on the sides, one at the end of its tail and one at the bottom of its tail. Rather than having teeth, the inside of the mouth was covered in small denticles.
Ecology.
"Mawsonia" was native to freshwater and brackish ecosystems.