Platysomus

{{Short description|Extinct genus of fishes}}

{{Automatic taxobox

| fossil_range = {{Fossil range|Early Carboniferous|Late Permian}}

| image = Platysomus gibbosus 2.jpg

| image_caption = Platysomus gibbosus

| taxon = Platysomus

| authority = Agassiz, 1833

| type_species = {{extinct}}Platysomus striatus

| type_species_authority = Agassiz, 1833

| subdivision_ranks = Other species

| subdivision =

• {{extinct}}Platysomus bashkirus Minich, 1992
• {{extinct}}Platysomus biarmicus Eichwald, 1860
• {{extinct}}Platysomus palmaris Cope, 1891
• {{extinct}}Platysomus solikamskensis Minich, 1998
• {{extinct}}Platysomus soloduchi Minich, 1992

| synonyms =

• {{extinct}}Schaefferichthys Dalquest, 1966

}}

Image:Platysomus gibbosus.jpg

Image:Platysomus circularis.jpg, Chicago]]

Platysomus (from {{langx|el|πλατύς}} {{transliteration|el|platys}}, 'broad' and {{langx|el|σῶμα}} {{transliteration|el|sôma}} 'body'){{cite book |last1=Roberts |first1=George |title=An etymological and explanatory dictionary of the terms and language of geology |date=1839 |publisher=Longman, Orme, Brown, Green, & Longmans |location=London |page=135 |url=https://archive.org/details/anetymologicala00robegoog |access-date=30 December 2021 |language=English}} is an extinct genus of ray-finned fish that lived in the Carboniferous and Permian periods. Fossils have been found worldwide.

Platysomus was about {{convert|18|cm|in}} long, and shaped similarly to the discus fish, having the same flattened body and elongated dorsal and anal fins. Its jaws were placed vertically under the braincase, giving it a wide gape. Platysomus is thought to have fed on plankton, and lived in both fresh and salt water.{{cite book |editor=Palmer, D.|year=1999 |title= The Marshall Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals|publisher= Marshall Editions|location=London|page= 35|isbn= 1-84028-152-9}}