Shoshonia

{{Short description|Extinct genus of fishes}}

{{Italic title}}

{{Automatic taxobox

| fossil_range = {{fossilrange|388.1|376.1|Devonian}}

| taxon = Shoshonia

| authority = Friedman, Coates & Anderson, 2007

}}

Shoshonia is a Devonian-era extinct genus of prehistoric sarcopterygians, or lobe-finned fish. It contains one species, Shoshonia arctopteryx.{{Cite web |title=Shoshonia Friedman, Coates & Anderson, 2007 |url=https://www.gbif.org/species/9498335 |access-date=2024-02-03 |website=www.gbif.org |language=en}} The fish was named in reference to the Shoshoni people and the Shoshone National Forest in Wyoming, in the United States.{{Cite web |title=Coelacanth fossil provides new data about primitive pattern for lobed fins |url=https://chronicle.uchicago.edu/070816/coelacanth.shtml |access-date=2024-02-03 |website=chronicle.uchicago.edu}}

The fish was described from a fossilized pectoral fin endoskeleton and shoulder bones found in Wyoming.{{Cite journal |last=Friedman |first=Matt |last2=Coates |first2=Michael I. |last3=Anderson |first3=Philip |date=2007 |title=First discovery of a primitive coelacanth fin fills a major gap in the evolution of lobed fins and limbs |url=https://www.academia.edu/download/30913974/Friedmanetal2007.pdf |journal=Evolution & Development |volume=9 |issue=4}} Based on skeletal morphology, the fish are believed to have been ancestors of the coelacanths. Notably, the fins were asymmetric.{{Cite web |last=Hecht |first=Jeff |date=10 August 2007 |title=How the coelacanth got its fins |url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn12462-how-the-coelacanth-got-its-fins/ |access-date=2024-02-03 |website=New Scientist |language=en-US}}