Pristiosomus is an extinct genus of prehistoric bony fish. It was discovered and named by Priem in 1924. Pristiosomus lived in the Triassic Period. Like other similar fish, it had thick layers of bony scales, which probably helped protect it from predation by other fish and nothosaurs. Taxonomy There is one known species, Pristiosomus merlei. It has been classified in both the Semionotiformes and the Pholidopleuroformes at different times. It was placed in the Pholidopleuroformes due to its similarity to Australosomus merlei (Piveteau). Etymology Pristiosomus comes from the Latin 'pristis' meaning 'sea monster' or 'shark' and the Greek 'soma' meaning 'body'. merlei refers to a person after whom it was named. See also Prehistoric fish List of prehistoric bony fish References Prehistoric bony fish genera