Ateleaspis is an extinct genus of primitive ostracoderm fish that lived in the Silurian period (Wenlock Epoch) to the Lower Devonian.[1][2] Like other ostracoderms, Ateleaspis had a head shield similar to that of Cephalaspis. Species from Silurian period were found in Norway and Scotland, but now has been found also in Siberia from Early Devonian period.

Ateleaspis
Temporal range: Wenlock to Lower Devonian 440–371.9 Ma
Ateleaspis tessellata
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Osteostraci
Order: Atelaspidiformes
Family: Ateleaspididae
Genus: Ateleaspis
Traquair, 1899
Species:
A. tessellata
Binomial name
Ateleaspis tessellata
Traquair, 1899

Description

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Ateleaspis possibly is the most basal vertebrate with paired fins. Ateleaspis was a small fish (about 15 – 20 cm) and had a flat headshield and a narrow trunk covered by brick-like scales.

References

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  1. ^ Ferrón, Humberto G.; Greenwood, Jenny M.; Deline, Bradley; Martínez‐Pérez, Carlos; Botella, Héctor; Sansom, Robert S.; Ruta, Marcello; Donoghue, Philip C. J. (2020). Cavin, Lionel (ed.). "Categorical versus geometric morphometric approaches to characterizing the evolution of morphological disparity in Osteostraci (Vertebrata, stem Gnathostomata)". Palaeontology. 63 (5): 717–732. doi:10.1111/pala.12482. hdl:10550/85577. ISSN 0031-0239. S2CID 218926737.
  2. ^ Afanassieva, Olga Borisovna. The exoskeleton of Ungulaspis and Ateleaspis (Osteostraci, Agnatha) from the Lower Devonian of Severnaya Zemlya, Russia. OCLC 1228830520.
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