Diabolepis
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| Diabolepis Fossil range: Early Devonian |
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Diabolepis is an extinct genus of sarcopterygian fish related to lungfishes which lived in the Early Devonian period of South China. Diabolepis is the most basal known dipnoan.
[edit] Characteristics
Diabolepis has a prominent snout; the more recurvature the snout, the greater is the proportion of the premaxilla that is included within the mouth cavity. The teeth within the premaxilla are folded with polyplocodont structure. The maxilla was either toothless or absent or there may have been a gap between the premaxilla and the maxilla. There is an intracranial joint or ventral fissure, two external nostrils, and separate enthopterygoids. One or several bones lie lateral to the anterior end of the postparietals. The skull roof has an incipient "B" bone between the postparietals. The rest of the skull roof has a tendency towards fragmentation into small bones. The endocranium is divided. The anterior nostril lies at the mouth margin. There can only be a narrow space between nostril and mouth, and an interrupted canal has been scored for Diabolepis.
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