Palaeospondylus
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| iPalaeospondylus |
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Extinct (fossil)
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| Palaeospondylus | |
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| Translation | ancient vertebrae |
| Type | primitive fish |
| Length | 2,4 in (6 cm) |
| Age | 395 million years ago |
| Diet | carnivore |
| Environment | ocean |
| Distribution | Scotland |
Palaeospondylus is a genus of fish-like fossil vertebrates. One species Palaeospondylus gunni was described from Achannaras slate quarry in Caithness, Scotland.
The fossil as preserved is carbonized, and indicates an eel-shaped animal of 6 cm in length. The skull, which must have consisted of hardened cartilage, exhibits pairs of nasal and auditory capsules, with a gill-apparatus below its hinder part, but no indications of ordinary jaws.
In 2004, researchers proposed that Palaeospondylus was a larval lungfish. Previously it had been classified as a larval tetrapod, unarmored placoderm, agnathe and a chimaera.
[edit] See also
[edit] Reference
- Thomson, K.S. 2004. A Palaeontological Puzzle Solved?. American Scientist 92:209
This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
