Psarolepis (/sæˈrɒlɪpɪs/; psārolepis, from Greek ψαρός 'speckled' and λεπίς 'scale') is a genus of extinct bony fish which lived around 397 to 418 million years ago (Pridoli to Lochkovian stages).
It is not known certainly in which group Psarolepis belongs, but paleontologists agree that it probably is a basal genus and seems to be close to the common ancestor of lobe-finned and ray-finned fishes.
Most of the fossils of Psarolepis were discovered at the same locality of the Yulongsi, Xishancun and Xitun Formations,[2] about 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) northwest of the city of Qujing, Yunnan, China.
[5] He also noted that the presence of a rotational tooth whorl combined with the other characteristics in the skull, and possibly in the shoulder girdle, show that Psarolepis is better placed as a sister taxon to Onychodus as the most basal member of the group of Onychodontiforms.
Moreover, Long, referring to new fossils collected from Gogo Formation, Western Australia, said that Psarolepis and Onychodus are both basal bony fish and are more primitive than other lobe-finned groups.