Asterolepis (fish)

For the moth genus, see Asterolepis (moth).

Asterolepis
Temporal range: Middle to Late Devonian
Reconstruction of Asterolepis
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: †Placodermi
Order: †Antiarchi
Family: †Asterolepididae
Genus: †Asterolepis
Eichwald, 1840
Species

See text

Synonyms
  • Astrolepis Eichwald, 1840
  • Chelonichthys Agassiz, 1844

Asterolepis is an extinct genus of antiarch placoderms from the Devonian of North and South America and Europe.[1] They were heavily armored flat-headed benthic detritivores with distinctive jointed limb-like pectoral fins[2] and hollow spine.[3] The armor plate gives the Asterolepis a box-like shape. Its pectoral fins are also armored but the caudal and dorsal fin are not. The first fossils were named by M. Eichwald in 1840 after noticing star-like markings on the fossils.

  1. ^ "Asterolepis". Paleobiology Database. Retrieved September 15, 2011.
  2. ^ David K. Elliott; Randal C. Reed & Haldermarie G. Johnson (1999). "The Devonian Vertebrates of Utah". In David D. Gillette (ed.). Vertebrate Paleontology in Utah. Vol. 1. Utah Geological Survey. ISBN 978-1-55791-634-1.
  3. ^ Miller, Hugh (1869). Footprints of the Creator or the Asterolepis of Stromness: With memoir by Louis Agassiz. Will. P. Nimmo. pp. xxviii.