''Lepisosteus'' ''indicus'', the Indian gar, is an extinct species of gar known from the

Late Cretaceous The Late Cretaceous (100.5–66 Ma) is the more recent of two epochs into which the Cretaceous Period is divided in the geologic time scale. Rock strata from this epoch form the Upper Cretaceous Series. The Cretaceous is named after ''cre ...

(

Maastrichtian The Maastrichtian ( ) is, in the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS) geologic timescale, the latest age (geology), age (uppermost stage (stratigraphy), stage) of the Late Cretaceous epoch (geology), Epoch or Upper Cretaceous series (s ...

) and early Paleocene of India. It is known from a single articulated but poorly-preserved skull and a lost set of vertebrae from the Lameta Formation, in addition to numerous isolated scales and teeth from the Lameta Formation and Intertrappean Beds.

Taxonomy

It was initially described by Woodward (1890) as a species of unrelated aspidorhynchid fish ('' Belonostomus indicus'') until he reclassified it as a gar in 1909. ''L. indicus'' is generally thought to belong to the genus ''

Lepisosteus ''Lepisosteus'' (from Greek ''lepis'' (), 'scale' and ''osteon'' (), 'bone') is a genus of gars in the family Gar, Lepisosteidae. It contains four extant species, found throughout eastern and central North America. It is one of two extant gar gen ...

'', a genus that contains several modern gar species that are found in eastern North America. The presence of this species in India suggests that the genus had a much larger range in prehistoric times, and it is thought to be the easternmost known ''Lepisosteus'' species overall. However, some recent studies suggest that it may be only a

stem Stem or STEM most commonly refers to: * Plant stem, a structural axis of a vascular plant * Stem group * Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics Stem or STEM can also refer to: Language and writing * Word stem, part of a word respon ...

-member of ''Lepisosteus'', as some of the

synapomorphies In phylogenetics, an apomorphy (or derived trait) is a novel character or character state that has evolved from its ancestral form (or plesiomorphy). A synapomorphy is an apomorphy shared by two or more taxa and is therefore hypothesized to ...

that were originally thought to be exclusive to ''

'', and thus supporting this species' placement in that genus, have been found to be non-indicative. However, it is likely to be more closely related to ''Lepisosteus'' than to any other gar.

Occurrence

Although only a single, crushed, partial articulated specimen is known representing an individual of about in length, the

ganoid A fish scale is a small rigid plate that grows out of the skin of a fish. The skin of most jawed fishes is covered with these protective scales, which can also provide effective camouflage through the use of reflection and colouration, as w ...

scales and teeth assigned to this species are abundant in Maastrichtian and early Paleocene freshwater deposits of India, including

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (; ; ) is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and the largest city is Indore, Indore. Other major cities includes Gwalior, Jabalpur, and Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, Sagar. Madhya Pradesh is the List of states and union te ...

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

, and

Telangana Telangana is a States and union territories of India, state in India situated in the Southern India, south-central part of the Indian subcontinent on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, ele ...

. It is possible that this species or its close relatives had a wider geographic and temporal distribution: isolated gar scales (considered Lepisosteidae indet.) are known from the Kallamedu Formation of

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...

in southern India, which is contemporaneous with the Lameta Formation. In addition, the partial trunk of a small-sized gar that may potentially be ''L. indicus'' is known from the

Late Paleocene The Thanetian is, in the International Commission on Stratigraphy, ICS Geologic timescale, the latest age (geology), age or uppermost stage (stratigraphy), stratigraphic stage of the Paleocene epoch (geology), Epoch or series (stratigraphy), Serie ...

-aged Palana Formation in Rajasthan, India, while isolated ''Lepisosteus'' scales are known from the middle Eocene (

Lutetian The Lutetian is, in the geologic timescale, a stage (stratigraphy), stage or age (geology), age in the Eocene. It spans the time between . The Lutetian is preceded by the Ypresian and is followed by the Bartonian. Together with the Bartonian it ...

)-aged

Kuldana Formation The Kuldana Formation is a fossil-bearing geological formation of Lutetian (Early Eocene) age which outcrop, crops out in northern Pakistan. The abundant fossil remains were deposited by rivers and estuaries crossing an arid to semi-arid enviro ...

of Kohat, Pakistan, representing the youngest record of gars on the subcontinent. The Pakistani ''Lepisosteus'' have been previously referred to ''L. indicus'', but analysis of their scales indicates some differences from ''L. indicus'', and a closer similarity to the modern

longnose gar The longnose gar (''Lepisosteus osseus''), also known as longnose garpike or billy gar, is a ray-finned fish in the family Lepisosteidae. The genus may have been present in North America for about 100 million years. References are made to gar ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q131872220 † Prehistoric holostei Late Cretaceous bony fish Cretaceous fish of Asia Maastrichtian life Fossils of India Fossil taxa described in 1890 taxa named by Arthur Smith Woodward