{{Short description|Extinct genus of fishes}} {{Speciesbox | fossil_range = Late Cretaceous, {{Fossil range|99.7|94.3}} | image = Bawitius restoration.png | image_caption = Restoration of ''Bawitius'' | genus = Bawitius | parent_authority = Grandstaff ''et al''. 2012<ref name=Grandstaff2012 /> | species = bartheli | authority = Grandstaff ''et al''. 2012,<ref name=Grandstaff2012 /> (Schaal, 1984<ref name=Schaal1984 />) | synonyms = *''Polypterus bartheli'' <small>Schaal, 1984</small><ref name=Schaal1984>Schaal, S. (1984). Oberkretazische Osteichthyes (Knochenfische) aus dem Bereich von Bahariya und Kharge, Ägypten, und ihre Aussagen zur Palökologie und Stratigraphie. ''Berliner Geowissenschaftliche Abhandlungen Reihe A'', 53: 1–76.</ref> }}
'''''Bawitius''''' is an extinct genus of giant polypterid from the Upper Cretaceous (lower Cenomanian) Bahariya Formation of Egypt.<ref name=Grandstaff2012>{{Cite journal|author=Grandstaff, B. S|author2=Smith, J. B.|author3=Lamanna, M. C.|author4=Lacovara, K. J.|author5=Abdel-Ghani, M. S. |year=2012 |title=''Bawitius'', gen. nov., a giant polypterid (Osteichthyes, Actinopterygii) from the Upper Cretaceous Bahariya Formation of Egypt |journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology |volume=32 |issue=1 |pages=17–26 |doi=10.1080/02724634.2012.626823|s2cid=140547157|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/233291244}}</ref> The type species is '''''B. bartheli''''', named as a species of ''Polypterus'' in 1984,<ref name=Schaal1984 /> and the genus etymology comes from Bawiti, the principal settlement of the Bahariya Oasis in Egypt.<ref name=Grandstaff2012/> It is known from the holotype TU-B SFB 69 Vb 003 (= Bah 5/12-016): left ectopterygoid scales and some sparse scales.<ref name=Schaal1984 /><ref name=Grandstaff2012/>
==Morphology== Compared to modern polypterids, ''Bawitius'' was enormous: the ''Bawitius'' holotype ectopterygoid is five times larger than the one of ''Polypterus'' and the scales are unusually large, too: these remains suggest the living animal may have been up to 300 centimeters (9.8 feet) in length.<ref name=Grandstaff2012/>
The morphology of ''Bawitius'' is different enough to justify its assignment to a new genus apart from ''Polypterus''.<ref name=Schaal1984 /> Unique features of the genus are, for example, an anterioposteriorly elongated contact between the lateral process and the maxilla, a high, narrow ectopterygoid and the presence of 14 teeth in the main tooth row.<ref name=Grandstaff2012/>
The scales are different, too, apart from size, from those of modern polypterids:<ref name=Schaal1984 /> they feature a discontinuous ganoine layer, a rectilinear shape, and small articular processes.<ref name=Grandstaff2012/>
==Ecological relevance== The existence of drastically different polypterids such as ''Bawitius'' and ''Serenoichthys'' corroborates the existence of a variety of polypterid fishes in the ecosystems of Late Cretaceous of North Africa and Brazil.<ref name=Grandstaff2012/>
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Cladistia}} {{Taxonbar|from=Q4873780}}
Category:Polypteridae Category:Monotypic prehistoric ray-finned fish genera Category:Late Cretaceous bony fish Category:Late Cretaceous fish of Africa Category:Cenomanian genera Category:Fossils of Egypt Category:Bahariya Formation Category:Fossil taxa described in 2012