| Challaia Temporal range: | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Fossil of Challaia elongata [3] | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | † Elonichthyiformes |
| Family: | † Acrolepidae |
| Genus: | † Challaia Rusconi, 1946 |
| Type species | |
| †Challaia magna Rusconi, 1949 | |
| Other species | |
| |
Challaia is an extinct genus of prehistoric freshwater ray-finned fish that lived during the Triassic period in what is now Argentina (Mendoza). [4] Two species are known, C. magna (type species), most likely from the Cerro de Las Cabras Formation, and C. elongata (previously assigned to Myriolepis ) from the Los Rastros Formation. [5] [1] Three other species, C. multidentata, C. striata and C.? cacheutensis, are considered nomina dubia . [1] [3]
C. elongata is the youngest known member of the Acrolepididae, a family of early ray-finned fishes that was dominant throughout the late Paleozoic, and survived into the Triassic. [6]
