Eoscatophagus

{{Short description|Extinct genus of fishes}}

{{Speciesbox

| fossil_range = {{fossil range|50|49|Early Eocene}}

| image = Eoscatophagus frontalis 88.jpg

| image_caption = Fossil specimen, Museo di Storia Naturale di Verona

| parent_authority = Tyler & Sorbini, 1999

| taxon = Eoscatophagus frontalis

| authority = (Agassiz, 1839)

| synonyms = * {{extinct}}Scatophagus frontalis Agassiz, 1839

}}

Eoscatophagus ("dawn Scatophagus") is an extinct genus of marine ray-finned fish, in the family Scatophagidae, known from the Eocene.{{Cite web |title=PBDB Taxon |url=https://paleobiodb.org/classic/basicTaxonInfo?taxon_no=353451 |access-date=2025-02-26 |website=paleobiodb.org}} It contains a single species, E. frontalis, known from the Monte Bolca site of Italy.{{Cite journal |last1=Carnevale |first1=G. |last2=Bannikov |first2=Alexandre F. |last3=Marramà |first3=G. |last4=Tyler |first4=James C. |last5=Zorzin. |first5=R. |date=2014 |title=The Bolca Fossil-Lagerstätte: A window into the Eocene World. 5. The Pesciara- Monte Postale Fossil-Lagerstätte: 2. Fishes and other vertebrates. Excursion guide |url=https://iris.unito.it/bitstream/2318/149338/1/Carnevale%20et%20al%202014%20The%20Pesciara%20F-L.%20Fishes%20and%20other%20vertebrates2.pdf |journal=Rendiconti della Società Paleontologica Italiana |volume=4 |issue=1 |pages=i–xxvii |hdl=10088/25678}}

It is the earliest scatophagid known from the fossil record. It was originally erroneously identified by Volta (1796) as a specimen of the spotted scat (Scatophagus argus, then known as Chaetodon argus) itself, before being described as its own species within Scatophagus by Agassiz (1839).{{Cite book |last=Geology |first=British Museum (Natural History) Department of |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Catalogue_of_the_Fossil_Fishes_in_the_Br/ZtEKAQAAIAAJ? |title=Catalogue of the Fossil Fishes in the British Museum (Natural History): Actinopterygian Teleostomi of the suborders Isospondyli (in part), Ostariophysi, Apodes, Percesoces, Hemibranchii, Acanthopterygii, and Anacanthini |last2=Woodward |first2=Arthur Smith |date=1901 |publisher=order of the Trustees |language=en}} It was moved to its own genus, Eoscatophagus, in 1999.{{Cite web |title=PBDB Taxon |url=https://paleobiodb.org/classic/basicTaxonInfo?taxon_no=353451 |access-date=2025-02-26 |website=paleobiodb.org}}

File:Scatophagus frontalis.JPG

As the earliest known member of the Scatophagidae, it is often used for calibrating phylogenies of marine fish evolution.{{Cite journal |last=Tims |first=Amy R. |last2=Unmack |first2=Peter J. |last3=Ho |first3=Simon Y. W. |date=2021-08-01 |title=A fossil-calibrated time-tree of all Australian freshwater fishes |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1055790321001135 |journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution |volume=161 |pages=107180 |doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2021.107180 |issn=1055-7903}}{{Cite journal |last=Bellwood |first=D. R. |last2=Klanten |first2=S. |last3=Cowman |first3=P. F. |last4=Pratchett |first4=M. S. |last5=Konow |first5=N. |last6=Van Herwerden |first6=L. |date=2010-02-01 |title=Evolutionary history of the butterflyfishes (f: Chaetodontidae) and the rise of coral feeding fishes |url=https://academic.oup.com/jeb/article-abstract/23/2/335/7325003 |journal=Journal of Evolutionary Biology |volume=23 |issue=2 |pages=335–349 |doi=10.1111/j.1420-9101.2009.01904.x |issn=1010-061X}}