Lunaspis

Lunaspis
Temporal range: Emsian
Artist's reconstruction of L. heroldi
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Chordata
Class:
Placodermi
Order:
Petalichthyida
Family:
Macropetalichthyidae
Genus:
Lunaspis
Species:
L. heroldi
Type species
Lunaspis heroldi
Broili 1929
species
  • L. heroldi Broili 1929
  • L. broili Broili 1937
  • L. pruemiensis (Kayser) 1880
Synonyms
  • Acanthaspis prümiensisTraquair 1894

Lunaspis is an extinct genus of armor-plated petalichthyid placoderm fish that lived in shallow marine environments of the Early Devonian period, from approximately 409.1 to 402.5 million year ago.[1] Fossils have been found in Germany, China and Australia.[2] There are three different identified species of within the genus Lunaspis:[3] L. broilii, L. heroldi, and L. prumiensis.

Like many other petalichthyid fish, Lunaspis are flat and have elongated pectoral spines, shortened thoracic armor, and dorsally oriented eyes.[4] Lunaspis has been studied mainly by German, Australian, and Chinese palaeontologists because of where it is most commonly encountered.[2] The tails are long and thin and resemble a whip, somewhat like extant skates and rays.[4]

  1. ^ Fossilworks: Gateway to the Paleobiology database. Retrieved March 6, 2017, from Fossilworks, http://www.fossilworks.org/cgi-bin/bridge.pl?page=paleodb
  2. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference :2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Shifan, L. (1980) Occurrence of Lunaspis in China. Institute of Vertebrate Palaeontology and Palaeoanthropology, Academia Sinica.
  4. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference :3 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).