| Benedenius Temporal range: Visean, | |
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| Specimen at the Museum of Natural Sciences, Belgium | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | † Eurynotiformes |
| Family: | † Styracopteridae |
| Genus: | † Benedenius Traquair, 1878 |
| Species | |
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Benedenius is an extinct genus of prehistoric marine ray-finned fish. It is known from the Early Carboniferous of Belgium. [1] [2] It was named after Belgian paleontologist Pierre-Joseph van Beneden.
It contains two species: [1]
Formerly classified as a "paleonisciform", more recent studies suggest that it belongs to an early order of deep-bodied actinopterygians known as the Eurynotiformes. It is generally classified within the Styracopteridae, though at least one recent study treats it as a member of the Amphicentridae. [3] [4] [5] [6]