Eaglesomia

Eaglesomia Temporal range: ?Lutetian PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Siluriformes
Family:	Claroteidae
Genus:	†Eaglesomia White, 1934
Species:	†E. eaglesomei
Binomial name
†Eaglesomia eaglesomei (White, 1926)
Synonyms
Chrysichthys eaglesomei White, 1926

Eaglesomia is an extinct genus of catfish, most likely of the family Claroteidae, that inhabited western Africa during the Eocene.[1] It contains a single species, E. eaglesomei, known from the presumably Lutetian-aged marine Oshosun and Ameki Formations of Nigeria.[2]

Initially placed in the modern genus Chrysichthys, a 1934 reanalysis found it to be more similar to the Egyptian fossil catfish Socnopaea, and it was thus reclassified into its own genus within the Claroteidae.[3] However, a 2010 study found it to lack several characteristics of the Claroteidae, and thus not be a claroteid.[4] In contrast, a 2021 study retained it in the Claroteidae based on its distinctive skull ornamentation, which more closely resembled that of claroteids than any other catfish family.[3]

References

1. Ferraris, Carl J. Jr. (2007). "Checklist of catfishes, recent and fossil (Osteichthyes: Siluriformes), and catalogue of siluriform primary types" (PDF). Zootaxa. 1418: 1–628.
2. Murray, A.m. (2000). "The Palaeozoic, Mesozoic and Early Cenozoic fishes of Africa". Fish and Fisheries. 1 (2): 111–145. doi:10.1046/j.1467-2979.2000.00015.x. ISSN 1467-2979.
3. Murray, Alison M.; Holmes, Robert (2021). "Osteology of the cranium and Weberian apparatus of African catfish families (Teleostei: Ostariophysi: Siluriformes) with an assessment of Palaeogene genera". Vertebrate Anatomy Morphology Palaeontology. 9 (1): 156–191. doi:10.18435/vamp29382. ISSN 2292-1389.
4. Longbottom, Alison (2010). "A new species of the catfish Nigerium from the Palaeogene of the Tilemsi Valley, Republic of Mali". Palaeontology. 53 (3): 571–594. doi:10.1111/j.1475-4983.2010.00946.x. ISSN 1475-4983.