Macropetalichthys

Macropetalichthys rapheidolabis
Temporal range: Early Devonian
Fossil
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Chordata
Class:
Placodermi
Order:
Petalichthyida
Family:
Macropetalichthyidae
Genus:
Macropetalichthys

Norwood & Owen, 1846
Species:
M. rapheidolabis
Binomial name
Macropetalichthys rapheidolabis
Norwood & Owen, 1846

Macropetalichthys is a genus of placoderm fish, named by Norwood and Owen in 1846; the name "Macropetalichthys" means "armor-plated fish".[1][2] It was assigned to Arthrodira by Woodward (1891); and to Petalichthida by Sepkoski (2002). Several species have been referred to Macropetalichthyes, but the best known is the type species, M. rapheidolabis, from the Jeffersonville Limestone of Indiana, USA, and Columbus Limestone of Ohio, USA.

Life restoration
  • Range: Early-Middle Devonian (Emsian-Eifelian) of North America and Europe.
  • Characters: Like primitive Arthrodira. Dorsoventrally compressed; orbits face dorsally; widely splayed pectoral fins, with cornua common; no post-pectoral plates; plates ornamented with linear rows of tubercles.
  • Life habit: possibly nektobenthic.
  1. ^ Van Valen, Leigh (1963). "The Head Shield of Macropetalichthys (Arthrodira)". Journal of Paleontology. 37 (1): 257–263. ISSN 0022-3360. JSTOR 1301427.
  2. ^ Eastman, C. R. (1897). "On the Characters of Macropetalichthys". The American Naturalist. 31 (366): 493–499. doi:10.1086/276635. ISSN 0003-0147. JSTOR 2452858.