Phyllolepis | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Subphylum: | Vertebrata |
Infraphylum: | Gnathostomata |
Class: | Placodermi |
Order: | Phyllolepida |
Family: | Phyllolepididae |
Genus: | Phyllolepis |
Phyllolepis ("Leaf scale") is the type genus of Phyllolepida, an extinct order of placoderm fish from the Devonian.
Phyllolepis lived in freshwater environments, possibly rivers and streams. As with all other known phyllolepids, the species of Phyllolepis were presumed to have been blind, bottom-dwelling predators that detected prey through sensory organs in the surface grooves of their armor plates (which give their plates a distinctive "wooden surface" appearance). Their fossils are found in Europe and North America.