Mawsonia (fish)

Mawsonia is an extinct genus of prehistoric coelacanth fish, and the largest of this group, ranging from an estimated 3.5 metres (11.5 feet) up to 6.3 metres (20.7 feet) long.[2][3] It lived during the Cretaceous period (Albian and Cenomanian stages, about 99 to 112 million years ago). Fossils have been found in the Bahia Group, Romualdo, Alcântara and Missão Velha Formations of Brazil, South America, as well as the Continental Intercalaire of Algeria and Tunisia, the Ain el Guettar Formation of Tunisia, and the Babouri Figuil Basin of Cameroon, Africa. Mawsonia was first described by British palaeontology Arthur Smith Woodward in 1907.[4] 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,[3][5] although Léo Fragoso's 2014 thesis on mawsoniids[6] finds M. brasiliensis valid and cautions against synonymizing M. minor without further examination. Several recent publications consider M. brasiliensis to be valid as well.[5][7][8][9] Although initially considered to belong to this genus, "Mawsonia" lavocati is most likely referable to Axelrodichthys instead.[9][10]

Mawsonia Temporal range: Albian-Cenomanian[1] ~110–93 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Reconstructed skeleton of Mawsonia at the National Museum of Nature and Science, Tokyo
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Order:	Coelacanthiformes
Family:	†Mawsoniidae
Genus:	†Mawsonia Woodward, 1907
Species
M. brasiliensis Yabumoto, 2002 M. gigas Woodward, 1907 (type) M. minor? Woodward, 1908 M. libyca? Weiler, 1935 M. soba Brito, 2018 M. tegamensis Wenz, 1975 M. ubangiensis? Casier, 1961

Life restoration and size comparison