Search results for "placoderm"
showing 4 items of 4 documents
First Perigondwanan record of actinolepids (Vertebrata: Placodermi: Arthrodira) from the Lochkovian (Early Devonian) of Spain and its palaeobiogeogra…
2011
Different palaeogeographic models have been proposed for the position of Laurussia ( including Baltica) and Gondwana-derived microcontinents ( including Ibero-Armorica) during Ordovician to Late Carboniferous times. Principal differences concern the presence and duration of a large ocean, the Rheic Ocean, acting as a faunal barrier between these areas. The timing of the collision of Laurussia with Gondwana and/or Gondwana-derived terranes continues to be debated. Here we present new faunal data revealing close biogeographical relations between Ibero-Armorica ("Perigondwanan" or Gondwanan derivate terranes) and Podolia (SE margin of Baltica, in Laurussia). The placoderm assemblage found in t…
Ecomorphological inferences in early vertebrates: reconstructing Dunkleosteus terrelli (Arthrodira, Placodermi) caudal fin from palaeoecological data
2017
Our knowledge about the body morphology of many extinct early vertebrates is very limited, especially in regard to their post-thoracic region. The prompt disarticulation of the dermo-skeletal elements due to taphonomic processes and the lack of a well-ossified endoskeleton in a large number of groups hinder the preservation of complete specimens. Previous reconstructions of most early vertebrates known from partial remains have been wholly based on phylogenetically closely related taxa. However, body design of fishes is determined, to a large extent, by their swimming mode and feeding niche, making it possible to recognise different morphological traits that have evolved several times in no…
Revision of asterolepidoid antiarch remains from the Ogre Formation (Upper Devonian) of Latvia
2020
The Frasnian (Upper Devonian) antiarch Walterilepis speciosa was first described in 1933 (as Taeniolepis) on the basis of a single specimen. The newly collected material has allowed the head to be described in a more detail, especially the nuchal and paranuchal plates. Other newly described elements include bones of the pectoral appendages and trunk armour, demonstrating a rather high and short trunk armour. The shape and proportions of the head and trunk armour suggest the attribution of Walterilepis to the family Pterichthyodidae; it is most probably closely related to Lepadolepis from the Late Frasnian of Germany. Whilst W. speciosa is endemic to the Latvian part of the Baltic Devonian B…
A long-snouted late Eifelian arthrodire from Aragon (Spain)
2021
Carolowilhelmina geognostica Carls, 1995 is a large arthrodire (Placodermi) from the Tortodus kockelianus Conodont Zone, late Eifelian, in the Eastern Iberian Cordillera in southern Aragon. The somewhat incomplete but articulated skull is preserved, showing a long tubular rostral plate, very small postnasal plates, low toothless inferognathals, and a small, slender and flat parasphenoid. Supraorbital and central sensory lines meet their antimeres at the midline of the skull, forming a straight double line. Lines along the ventral surface of the rostral plate probably belong to the suborbital branches of the infraorbital sensory lines. The combination of characters of Carolowilhelmina points…