Kujdanowiaspis

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Kujdanowiaspis
Temporal range:
Ma
Artist's reconstruction of K. buczacziensis
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: †Placodermi
Order: †Arthrodira
Genus: †
Kudjanowiaspis

Stensiö, 1942
Species
  • †Kudjanowiaspis buczacziensis (Brotzen, 1934) (type)
  • †Kudjanowiaspis podolica (Brotzen, 1934)
  • †Kudjanowiaspis rectiformis ? (Brotzen, 1934)

Kujdanowiaspis is an

arthrodire placoderm fish from the Early Devonian of Podolia (Ukraine), Poland and Spain.[1][2][3] Kujdanowiaspis is known from many fragmentary head shields and body armours.[4]

Classification

Preserved spinal plate and thoracic shield

Kujdanowiaspis consists of three species, all

described in 1934: Kujdanowiaspis buczacziensis (type species), Kujdanowiapsis podolica, and Kudjanowiaspis rectiformis - although the independent status of K. rectiformis is in doubt, and is instead most likely K. podolica.[4][5][6] Kujdanowiaspis zychi was also named and described by Stensiö in 1945, but was reassigned to the new genus Erikaspis in 2007.[4][5]

Kujdanowiaspis is one of the more basal members of the order Arthrodira, as shown in the cladogram below:[7]

Lunaspis broilii

Eurycaraspis incilis

Arthrodira

Yujiangolepis liujingensis

Antarctaspis mcmurdoensis

Wuttagoonaspidae

Yiminaspis shenme

Wuttagoonaspis fletcheri

Aethaspis major

Aethaspis utahensis

Lehmanosteus hyperboreus

Aleosteus eganensis

Simblaspis cachensis

Kujdanowiaspis buczacziensis

Kujdanowiaspis podolica

Erikaspis zychi

Sigaspis lepidophora

Eskimaspis heintzi

Baringaspis dineleyi

Proaethaspis ohioensis

Anarthraspis chamberlini

Heightingtonaspis anglica

Phyllolepida

Gavinaspis convergens

Phyllolepis orvini

Austrophyllolepis sp.

Cowralepis mclachlani

Placolepis budawangensis

Actinolepidae

Bollandaspis woschmidti

Actinolepis spinosa

Actinolepis magna

Actinolepis tuberculata

Bryantolepis brachycephalus

Phlyctaenioidei

Phlyctaeniidae

Groenlandaspidae

Arctaspidae

Dicksonosteus arcticus

Arctolepidae

Brachythoraci

Actinolepidoidei
Phlyctaeniina

Description

Because of the poor preservation of Kujdanowiaspis fossils, little is known about its physiology. What is known about it is typical of actinolepid placoderms, and it can compared to the better known primitive arthrodires such as Dicksonosteus or Actinolepis. It had a very pronounced, serrated spinal plate, giving it an almost lunate dorsal silhouette.[4]

The body of Kujdanowiaspis is slightly wider than high, with large spinal plates protruding laterally, suggesting a

benthic lifestyle. The body armour of the genus Erikaspis is much flatter.[5]

Its jaws were comparatively underdeveloped in comparison to the more robust-jawed arthrodires that would come after it, such as Dunkleosteus and Coccosteus, indicating that it likely subsisted primarily on smaller, softer-bodied animals such as mollusks or worms instead of larger, tougher prey animals.

References

  1. ISSN 0031-0182
    .
  2. ISSN 1631-0713
    .
  3. hdl:1885/204872
    .
  4. ^
    S2CID 129505974
    .
  5. ^
    ISSN 0272-4634
    .
  6. PMID 28170434
    .
  7. doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.2009.00519.x
    .
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