Millerosteus is an extinct genus of coccosteid arthrodire placoderm from the Early Givetian stage of the Middle Devonian period. Fossils are found in Orkney and Caithness, Scotland. It was a small placoderm with a body length of 14 cm (5.5 in).[1] Millerosteus is one of the few arthrodires known from specimens preserving the entire skeleton.

Millerosteus
Temporal range: Middle Devonian: Early Givetian, 387.7–382.7 Ma
Fossil of Millerosteus minor in the Field Museum of Natural History.
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Placodermi
Order: Arthrodira
Suborder: Brachythoraci
Family: Coccosteidae
Genus: Millerosteus
Stensiö, 1959
Species

Phylogeny

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Millerosteus is a member of the family Coccosteidae, which belongs to the clade Coccosteomorphi, one of the two major clades within Eubrachythoraci. The cladogram below shows the phylogeny of Millerosteus:[2]

Eubrachythoraci 

References

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  1. ^ Engelman, Russell K. (2023). "A Devonian Fish Tale: A New Method of Body Length Estimation Suggests Much Smaller Sizes for Dunkleosteus terrelli (Placodermi: Arthrodira)". Diversity. 15 (3). 318. doi:10.3390/d15030318.
  2. ^ Zhu, You-An; Zhu, Min; Wang, Jun-Qing (1 April 2016). "Redescription of Yinostius major (Arthrodira: Heterostiidae) from the Lower Devonian of China, and the interrelationships of Brachythoraci". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 176 (4): 806–834. doi:10.1111/zoj.12356. ISSN 0024-4082.