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Colobodus

genus of fishes

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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionMay 18, 2026
Entity authorityQ3683326 ↗
Source-derived summary

Colobodus is an extinct genus of marine Triassic ray-finned fish of the family Colobodontidae and order Perleidiformes. Fossils have been found in Europe (France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Switzerland) and China, encompassing the former Tethys Ocean. It could reach body lengths of about 70 cm (2 ft 4 in).

The original type species was Colobodus hogardi Agassiz, 1844, the fossils of which are probably destroyed, therefore the new type species C. bassanii was designated.

Taxonomy

The following species are known:

†C. bassanii de Alessandri, 1910 - Late Anisian of Italy & Switzerland (Besano Formation)

†C. maximus (Quenstedt, 1867) - Anisian of Italy (Besano Formation), Anisian to Carnian of Germany (Muschelkalk)

†C. praemaximus Corroy, 1928 - Early Triassic of France

†C. koenigi Stolley, 1920 - Late Anisian of Germany (Muschelkalk) (possibly synonymous with C. bassanii)

†C. baii Sun et al., 2008 - Anisian of Guizhou, China

†C. giganteus (Beltan, 1972) - Late Ladinian of Spain (Muschelkalk)

†C. wushaensis Li et al., 2019 - Carnian of Guizhou, China

Several other species (C. stensioei, C. dealessandrii, C. stolleyi, C. cyclolepis, and C. anguillalepis) were proposed by Mutter (2002) from a single fossiliferous level from the Besano Formation, although their validity is uncertain due to the extreme morphological variety within the group.

Records of Colobodus exist outside of Europe and China, but these remains are thought to be highly questionable.

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Colobodus” is genus of fishes. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Colobodus, genus and fishes, not as a finished interpretation.

Editorial reviewUseful for establishing the present vocabulary of the subject while preserving a route back to the evidence on which that vocabulary rests. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1844, 1910, 1867, 1928—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. For this dossier, Colobodus, genus and fishes is the immediate research focus.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “genus of fishes” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

Evidence profile

Datasets, specimens, observations and peer-reviewed methods provide the appropriate test for the technical claims summarized here. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 18, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q3683326. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1844, 1910, 1867 and 1928.

Critical limits

Current terminology should not be projected backward without checking the classification used when the underlying evidence was created. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Check terminology, classification and the date of the cited evidence. Scientific names and technical consensus can change while older records retain historical value.

Best used for
  • Current terminology
  • Classification context
  • Finding cited technical literature
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Primary datasets, specimen catalogues, standards bodies and the most recent peer-reviewed literature.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Colobodus”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Colobodus primary sources, Colobodus archive and Colobodus research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

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  2. Has classification or technical consensus changed since the cited source?
  3. Is the terminology current, historical or disputed?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Colobodus” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.