Eomesodon

Eomesodon Temporal range: Potential Late Triassic, Middle Jurassic, and Early Cretaceous records
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	†Pycnodontiformes
Genus:	†Eomesodon Woodward, 1918
Type species
†Mesodon liassicus Egerton, 1854

Eomesodon (Greek for "dawn middle-tooth") is an extinct genus of prehistoric marine pycnodont fish.

It contains only a single definitive species, E. liassicus from the Early Jurassic (Hettangian to Sinemurian) of England, France, and Belgium. E. liassicus is the only known species of pycnodont known from the earliest Jurassic Europe following the Triassic-Jurassic extinction event, and the group does not see further diversification in Europe until the Toarcian.

In addition to E. liassicus, several other disputed species are known from earlier (Late Triassic) and much later (up to the earliest Cretaceous). However, the status of these species and their placement within Eomesodon is disputed, and later studies refer to them as "Eomesodon". If the Triassic species actually did belong to this genus, then Eomesodon would be the only pycnodont known from both sides of the Triassic-Jurassic boundary.

The following disputed species are known:

See also

• Prehistoric fish
• List of prehistoric bony fish