Bawitius is an extinct genus of giant polypterid from the Upper Cretaceous (lower Cenomanian) Bahariya Formation of Egypt. The genus etymology comes from Bawiti, the principal settlement of the Bahariya Oasis in Egypt. It is known from several ectopterygoid bones and some sparse scales.

 Compared to modern polypterids, Bawitius was probably very large: the Bawitius holotype ectopterygoid is five times larger than the one of Polypterus and the scales are unusually large too.

 The morphology of Bawitius is different enough to justify the assignment to a new genus. Unique features of the genus are, for example, an anterioposteriorly elongate contact between the lateral process and the maxilla, a high, narrow ectopterygoid and the presence of 14 teeth in the main tooth row.

 The scales are different too, apart from size, from those of modern polypterids: they feature a discontinuous ganoine layer, a rectilinear shape and small articular processes.

 The existence of drastically different polypterids like Bawitius and Serenoichthys corroborates the existence of a variety of polypterid fishes in the ecosystems of Late Cretaceous of North Africa.

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Tags: Вымершие рыбы, Лучепёрые, Мел

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