| Euporosteus Temporal range: | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | Sarcopterygii |
| Class: | Actinistia |
| Genus: | † Euporosteus Jaekel, 1927 |
| Type species | |
| †Euporosteus eifeliensis Jaekel, 1927 | |
| Species | |
| |
Euporosteus is an extinct genus of prehistoric marine coelacanth that lived during the early to middle Devonian of Europe and Asia. [1] [2]
It contains two known species: [2] [3]
- †E. eifeliensis Jaekel, 1927 (type species) - Middle Devonian (early Givetian) of Germany (Cürten Formation)
- †E. yunnanensisZhu et al., 2012 - Early Devonian (Pragian) of Yunnan, China (Posongchong Formation)
The Asian species E. yunnanensis is one of the earliest known coelacanths, alongside the much more fragmentary Eoactinistia from Australia, and is the earliest known coelacanth to have an anatomically modern appearance. The other species, E. eifeliensis, looked similar to E. yunnanensis but lived much later in the Devonian, giving this genus a long stratigraphic range. [2] [4]
