| Phlyctaeniidae Temporal range: | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Artist's reconstruction of Cartieraspis | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | † Placodermi |
| Order: | † Arthrodira |
| Clade: | † Phlyctaenioidei |
| Family: | † Phlyctaeniidae |
| Genera | |
See text | |
Phlyctaeniidae is an extinct family of placoderm arthrodire fishes that lived during the Devonian period, mainly in Norway and North America.
Order Arthrodira Woodward, 1891
Phlyctaeniidae's placement within Arthrodira can be shown in the cladogram below: [1]
| Actinolepidoidei Phlyctaeniina |
Placodermi is a class of armoured prehistoric fish, known from fossils, which lived from the Silurian to the end of the Devonian period. Their head and thorax were covered by articulated armoured plates and the rest of the body was scaled or naked, depending on the species. Placoderms were among the first jawed fish; their jaws likely evolved from the first of their gill arches.
Dunkleosteus is an extinct genus of large arthrodire fish that existed during the Late Devonian period, about 382–358 million years ago. It consists of ten species, some of which are among the largest placoderms to have ever lived: D. terrelli, D. belgicus, D. denisoni, D. marsaisi, D. magnificus, D. missouriensis, D. newberryi, D. amblyodoratus, D. raveri, and D. tuderensis, and the largest and most well known species is D. terrelli. Since body shape is not known, various methods of estimation put the living total length of the largest known specimen between 4.1 to 10 m long and weigh around 1–4 t. Dunkleosteus could quickly open and close its jaw, like modern-day suction feeders, and had a bite force of 4,414–6,170 N at the tip and 5,363–7,495 N at the blade edge. Numerous fossils of the various species have been found in North America, Poland, Belgium, and Morocco. Dunkleosteus was a pelagic fish inhabiting open waters, and an apex predator of its ecosystem.
Arthrodira is an order of extinct armored, jawed fishes of the class Placodermi that flourished in the Devonian period before their sudden extinction, surviving for about 50 million years and penetrating most marine ecological niches. Arthrodires were the largest and most diverse of all groups of placoderms.
Cephalaspis is a possibly monotypic genus of extinct osteostracan agnathan vertebrate. It was a trout-sized detritivorous fish that lived in the early Devonian.
Groenlandaspis is an extinct genus of arthrodire from the Late Devonian. Fossils of the different species are found in late Devonian strata in all continents except eastern Asia. The generic name commemorates the fact that the first specimens of the type species were found in Greenland.
Dinichthys is an extinct monospecific genus of large marine arthrodire placoderm from the Late Devonian measuring around 3 metres (9.8 ft) long. Fossils were recovered from the Ohio Shale Formation along the Olentangy River in Delaware County, Ohio.
Coccosteina is an extinct infraorder of placoderms, armored fish most diverse during the Devonian. However, the term is no longer in use, as modern cladistical methods have produced alternative phylogenetic trees of Brachythoraci with new subdivisions.
Arctolepis is an extinct genus of placoderm arthrodire fish which lived during the Early Devonian period. Fossils of Arctolepis have been found in what is now Norway and Michigan.
Dicksonosteus is an extinct genus of basal arthrodire placoderm fish which lived during the Early Devonian period of Spitsbergen, Norway.
Heintzosteus is an extinct genus of placoderm arthrodire fish, which lived during the Late Devonian period in Spitsbergen, Norway.
Plourdosteus is an extinct genus of placoderm arthrodire which was relatively widespread in Euramerica during the Givetian to Frasnian ages of the Devonian. It was a small placoderm, with P. canadensis measuring 37.5–51.4 cm (14.8–20.2 in) long.
Mcnamaraspis is an extinct monospecific genus of arthrodire placoderm that inhabited the ancient reef system of north Western Australia during the Frasnian epoch of the Late Devonian period. The type specimen was found and described by John A. Long from the Gogo Formation near Fitzroy Crossing. This fossil fish showed new anatomical features in arthrodires, like the well-preserved annular (ring-shaped) cartilages of the snout, previously inferred to be present by Erik Stensiö of Sweden. It is occasionally referred to as "The Gogo Fish" after the locale the holotype was excavated from.
Latocamurus is an extinct monospecific genus of flat-nosed arthrodire placoderm from the Early Frasnian stage of the Late Devonian period, found at the Gogo Formation of Kimberley, Western Australia.
Heterosteidae is an extinct family of moderately large to giant, flattened, benthic arthrodire placoderms with distinctive, flattened, triangular skulls that are extremely broad posteriorly, but become very narrow anteriorly.
Golshanichthys is an extinct monospecific genus of dunkleosteid from the Late Devonian: Frasnian stage from Kerman, Iran.
Westralichthys is an extinct monospecific genus of dunkleosteoid from the Late Devonian: Middle Famennian stage from Western Australia. It is estimated to be 3 meters (9.8 ft) long.
Torosteus is an extinct genus of arthrodire placoderm from the Early Frasnian stage of the Late Devonian period. Fossils are found in the Kimberley region of Australia.
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