Acrolepis (Ancient Greek for "tip scale") is an extinct genus of prehistoric marine bony fish that lived from the Famennian stage of the Devonian to the early Triassic epoch. Some species from the Early Triassic of Tasmania are also ascribed to Acrolepis. It is a large piscivorous predatory fish in the acrolepid family, which occupied an apex predator niche in its locale. A. gigas was estimated to have grown up to 1.25 m in length. A close relationship between the mostly Palaeozoic Acrolepidae and the Mesozoic Ptycholepiformes was proposed, but support from phylogenetic analyses is scarce. More recent studies place it in the order Elonichthyiformes.

Diet

Acrolepis possibly used its sharp, pointed teeth to catch smaller fishes (such as other "palaeoniscoid" fish).

Fossil record

The type species is Acrolepis sedgwicki from the late Permian Marl Slate of England and the coeval Kupferschiefer of Germany. It is named after British geologist Adam Sedgwick. Other species are known from Carboniferous and Permian rocks in the Czech Republic and Triassic layers of Tasmania. Specimens in possession of Tyne & Wear Archives and Museums comprise a fossilized jawbone from the Marl Slate of Durham Province.

Taxonomy

The following species are known:

Synonyms

Several species have been referred to the genus Acrolepis. The following species were subsequently reascribed to other genera:

In culture

The flag and coat of arms of the village and municipality of Žilov, Plzeň-North District in the Plzeň Region of the Czech Republic, feature a restoration of Acrolepis gigas in the center of the black-silver-red divided fabric or shield, respectively.