 | This article may be too technical for most readers to understand. (February 2018) |
| Eusthenopteron Temporal range: Late Devonian,
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| Life restoration of Eusthenopteron foordi | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | Sarcopterygii |
| Clade: | Tetrapodomorpha |
| Clade: | Eotetrapodiformes |
| Family: | †Tristichopteridae |
| Genus: | †Eusthenopteron Whiteaves, 1881 |
| Species[1] | |
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Eusthenopteron (from Greek: εὖ eû, 'good', Greek: σθένος sthénos, 'strength', and Greek: πτερόν pteron 'wing' or 'fin')[2] is a genus of prehistoric sarcopterygian (often called "lobe-finned") fish known from several species that lived during the Late Devonian period, about 385 million years ago. It has attained an iconic status from its close relationship to tetrapods. Early depictions of animals of this genus show them emerging onto land, but paleontologists now think that eusthenopteron species were strictly aquatic animals, though this is not completely known.[3]
The genus was first described by J. F. Whiteaves in 1881, as part of a large collection of fishes from Miguasha, Quebec, Canada.[4] Some 2,000 Eusthenopteron specimens have been collected from Miguasha, one of which was the object of intensely detailed study and several papers by paleoichthyologist Erik Jarvik between the 1940s and the 1990s.[5]
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
jenkinsiwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Miller, S. A. (Samuel Almond) (1889). North American geology and palæontology for the use of amateurs, students, and scientists. Cincinnati, O. : [Western Methodist book concern]. p. 597. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
- ^ M. Laurin, F. J. Meunier, D. Germain, and M. Lemoine 2007. A microanatomical and histological study of the paired fin skeleton of the Devonian sarcopterygian Eusthenopteron foordi. Journal of Paleontology 81: 143–153.
- ^ Whiteaves, Joseph Frederick (1881). "On some remarkable fossil fishes from the Devonian rocks of Scaumenac Bay, in the Province of Quebec". Annals and Magazine of Natural History. 8 (44): 159–162. doi:10.1080/00222938109487434.
- ^ Geological Survey of Canada (7 February 2008). "Past lives: Chronicles of Canadian Paleontology: Eusthenopteron - the Prince of Miguasha". Archived from the original on 11 December 2004. Retrieved 10 February 2009.