Bawitius is an extinct genus of giant polypterid from the Upper Cretaceous (lower Cenomanian) Bahariya Formation of Egypt.[1] The type species is B. bartheli, named as a species of Polypterus in 1984,[2] and the genus etymology comes from Bawiti, the principal settlement of the Bahariya Oasis in Egypt.[1] It is known from the holotype TU-B SFB 69 Vb 003 (= Bah 5/12-016): left ectopterygoid scales and some sparse scales.[2][1]
^ abcdeGrandstaff, B. S; Smith, J. B.; Lamanna, M. C.; Lacovara, K. J.; Abdel-Ghani, M. S. (2012). "Bawitius, gen. nov., a giant polypterid (Osteichthyes, Actinopterygii) from the Upper Cretaceous Bahariya Formation of Egypt". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 32 (1): 17–26. doi:10.1080/02724634.2012.626823. S2CID 140547157.
^ abcdSchaal, S. (1984). Oberkretazische Osteichthyes (Knochenfische) aus dem Bereich von Bahariya und Kharge, Ägypten, und ihre Aussagen zur Palökologie und Stratigraphie. Berliner Geowissenschaftliche Abhandlungen Reihe A, 53: 1–76.
and some sparse scales. Compared to modern polypterids, Bawitius was enormous: the Bawitius holotype ectopterygoid is five times larger than the one...
Polypterioidei Clade Salamandrophysida Family Polypteridae Genus †Bawitius Grandstaff et al. 2012 †Bawitius bartheli (Schaal 1984) Grandstaff et al. 2012 - Late Cretaceous...
Family Polypteridae Lacépède 1803 sensu stricto Genus †Bawitius Grandstaff et al. 2012 Species †Bawitius bartheli (Schaal 1984) Grandstaff et al. 2012 [Polypterus...
Gyrodus circularis, with length up to 2 m (6 ft 7 in). The Late Cretaceous Bawitius was likely the largest bichir of all time. It reached up to 3 m (9.8 ft)...
Osteichthyes of the Bahariya Formation Genus Species Abundance Notes Images Bawitius B. bartheli A giant bichir. Concavotectum C. moroccensis Possibly synonymous...
5 cm (2.0 in) in length — in comparaison, the contemporary polypterid Bawitius could reach up to 300 cm (9.8 ft). Its body was relatively short and tall...
pinnulae (spines that support each dorsal finlet) A cladistian Bawitius cf. Bawitius sp. Isolated scales and jaw fragments A cladistian Calamopleurus...
including the sawskate Onchopristis, coelacanth Mawsonia, and bichir Bawitius. This led to an abundance of piscivorous crocodyliformes evolving in response...
Smith, J. B.; Lamanna M. C.; Lacovara, K. J.; Abdel-Ghani M. S. (2012). "Bawitius, gen. nov., a giant polypterid (Osteichthyes, Actinopterygii) from the...
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