[2][1] While represented only by the two extant genera of gar from North America, the Lepisosteiformes are an ancient group known as far back as the Early Jurassic, and formerly had a much larger range, being known from almost every continent.

Considerable morphological diversity is known among extinct members compared to modern gar, from the superficially gar-like Obaichthyidae to the semionotiform-like Lepidotidae, which were previously classified in the Semionotiformes.

[1] However, phylogenetic estimates suggest that the earliest lepisosteiforms diverged from their closest relatives in the Middle Triassic.

[5] It has been suggested that as is with basal ginglymodians and the Semionotiformes, the earliest lepisosteiforms were marine and independently colonized and diversified in freshwater ecosystems multiple times; first among the Lepidotidae, and then among the Lepisosteoidei.

Members of Lepidotidae in particular are strongly different from modern gars in having bulky bodies, with the large (up to 2 metres (6.6 ft)) lepidotid Scheenstia developing powerful jaws filled with rounded teeth that were likely used to crush shells (durophagy).