Cephalaspidomorphs Temporal range: present day if lampreys and/or gnathostomes are their descendants
Cephalaspidomorphs may have survived to the | |
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Life restoration of Cephalaspis lyelli. | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | |
Phylum: | |
Subphylum: | |
Infraphylum: | |
(unranked): | †Cephalaspidomorphi
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Type species | |
†Cephalaspis lyelli Agassiz, 1835
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Subgroups | |
Cephalaspidomorphs are a group of jawless fishes named for Cephalaspis of the osteostracans. Most biologists regard this taxon as extinct, but the name is sometimes used in the classification of lampreys, because lampreys were once thought to be related to cephalaspids. If lampreys are included, they would extend the known range of the group from the Silurian and Devonian periods to the present day. They are the closest relatives of jawed fishes, who may have emerged from within them; if this is true, they would survive if the jawed fish are included.