| Brittagnathus Temporal range: | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Reconstruction based on its close relative (Pederpes) | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | Stegocephali |
| Genus: | † Brittagnathus Ahlberg & Clack, 2020 |
| Type species | |
| †Brittagnathus minutus Ahlberg & Clack, 2020 | |
Brittagnathus is an extinct genus of four-limbed vertebrate ("tetrapod") from the Late Devonian of Greenland. It contains a single species, Brittagnathus minutus, which is based on a complete lower jaw recovered from an Acanthostega bonebed in the Britta Dal Formation. It is the fourth named genus of "tetrapod" (more precisely a stem-tetrapod or stegocephalian) from the Late Devonian of Greenland, after Ichthyostega , Acanthostega, and Ymeria . [1]
The jaw is only 4.5 cm (1.8 in.) long, with the total length estimated at 25 cm, making Brittagnathus the smallest known Devonian "tetrapod". A phylogenetic analysis places it among Carboniferous stegocephalians, particularly the small whatcheeriid Pederpes , rather than the contemporary Devonian stem-tetrapods. This provides support for an origin for Carboniferous-type tetrapods as early as the Devonian. [1]
