Holonema

Holonema
Temporal range: Mid to Late Devonian
H. westolli
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Class: Placodermi
Order: Arthrodira
Family: Holonematidae
Genus: Holonema
Type species
Holonema rugosum
Species
  • H. rugosum
  • H. farrowi Stevens, 1964
  • H. haiti Denison, 1968
  • H. radiatum
  • H. westolli Miles, 1971
Synonyms
  • Pterichthys rugosus

Holonema is an extinct genus of relatively large, barrel-shaped placoderms that were found in oceans throughout the world from the Mid to Late Devonian, when the last species perished in the Frasnian-Fammian extinction event. Most species of the genus are known from fragments of the armor, but the Gogo Reef species, H. westolli, is known from whole, articulated specimens. According to these specimens, species of Holonema lived by grazing on stony, stromatolite-like algae called oncholite, apparently by snipping off the points with a specialized snout.

References