Pteraspid

Pteraspids were early agnathan vertebrates. They lived from later Silurian to the end of the Devonian. Fossils are found in Europe and North America.

Pteraspid
Temporal range: Upper Silurian-Devonian
Lamiaspis longiripa.jpg
Lamiaspis longiripa
Scientific classification e
Unrecognized taxon (fix): Pteraspidiformes
Suborders and families

The whole group has the head and front of the body armoured. Delicate, finger-like parts of the plates were at the edges of the mouth. This suggests they were filter feeders taking plankton from the water column.[1]

Pteraspid Media

References

  1. Purnell, Mark A. 2002. Feeding in extinct jawless heterostracan fishes and testing scenarios of early vertebrate evolution. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B: Biological Sciences. 269 (1486) 83-88.[1]