See text Atractosteus (from Greek atractos, 'spindle', and osteos, 'bone')[4] is a genus of gars in the family Lepisosteidae, with three extant species.

[5] The three surviving species are all widely separated from one another, with A. spatula being found in the south-central United States, A. tropicus in southern Mexico and Central America, and A. tristoechus in Cuba.

[5] Although generally inhabiting fresh water, they are tolerant of marine conditions.

[6][7] Atractosteus survived the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event, with one articulated fossil of the species A. grandei being recovered from strata dated to just a few thousand years after the extinction event, making it the oldest known articulated vertebrate fossil from the Cenozoic.

Although this scale provides evidence for gars surviving in Europe as late as the Miocene, it is not diagnostic enough to be considered a member of Atractosteus, nor can the Messel gars (now placed in A. messelensis) be confidently placed in it.