Coccosteus
Coccosteus | |
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C. cuspidatus specimen IVPP V19322, Paleozoological Museum of China | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | †Placodermi |
Order: | †Arthrodira |
Suborder: | †Brachythoraci |
Family: | †Coccosteidae |
Genus: | †Coccosteus Agassiz, 1843 |
Type species | |
Coccosteus cuspidatus Miller, 1841
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Species | |
List
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Coccosteus (from
arthrodire placoderm from the Devonian period. Its fossils have been found throughout Europe and North America. The majority of these have been found in freshwater sediments, though such a large range suggests that they may have been able to enter saltwater. It was a small placoderm, with Coccosteus cuspidatus measuring 29.6–39.4 cm (11.7–15.5 in) long.[2]
Description
Like all other
vertebrae and the back of the skull, allowing for the mouth to be opened even wider. Along with the longer jaws, this allowed Coccosteus to feed on fairly large prey. The up-and-down movement of the skull also allowed for more water to be pumped through the gills. Possibly, the creature supplemented its diet with organic material filtered from mud using the gills. As with all other arthrodires, Coccosteus had bony dental plates embedded in its jaws, forming a beak. The beak was kept sharp by having the edges of the dental plates grind away at each other.[3] Overall the creature looked similar to its gigantic cousin Dunkleosteus
, save that its eyes were closer to the end of its snout than in its larger relative.
Phylogeny
Coccosteus is the
phylogeny of Coccosteus:[4]
Eubrachythoraci |
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Species
- C. cuspidatus is the
See also
- List of placoderms
References
- ^ Dean, Bashford (1895). Fishes, living and fossil. An outline of their forms and probable relationships. New York, London, Macmillan and Co. p. 228.
- .
- ISBN 978-1-84028-152-1.
- ISSN 0024-4082.
- S2CID 131241083. Retrieved 7 July 2012.