Agnatha is a superclass of jawless fish in the phylum Chordata, subphylum Vertebrata, consisting of both present (cyclostomes) and extinct species. The group is sister to all vertebrates with jaws, known as gnathostomes.
Gnathostomata are the jawed vertebrates. The term derives from Greek: γνάθος "jaw" + στόμα "mouth". Gnathostome diversity comprises roughly 60,000 species, which accounts for 99% of all living vertebrates. In addition to opposing jaws, living gnathostomes have teeth, paired appendages, and a horizontal semicircular canal of the inner ear, along with physiological and cellular anatomical characters such as the myelin sheaths of neurons. Another is an adaptive immune system that uses V(D)J recombination to create antigen recognition sites, rather than using genetic recombination in the variable lymphocyte receptor gene.
Acanthodii or acanthodians is an extinct class of gnathostomes, typically considered a paraphyletic group. They are currently considered to represent a grade of various fish lineages leading up to the extant Chondrichthyes, which includes living sharks, rays, and chimaeras. Acanthodians possess a mosaic of features shared with both osteichthyans and chondrichthyans. In general body shape, they were similar to modern sharks, but their epidermis was covered with tiny rhomboid platelets like the scales of holosteians. Paraphyletic groupings are problematic, as one can not talk precisely about their phylogenic relationships, their characteristic traits and literal extinction.
The Mackenzie Mountains are a Canadian mountain range forming part of the Yukon-Northwest Territories boundary between the Liard and Peel rivers. The range is named in honour of Canada's second prime minister, Alexander Mackenzie. Nahanni National Park Reserve and Nááts'ihch'oh National Park Reserve are in the Mackenzie Mountains.
Thelodonti is a class of extinct jawless fishes with distinctive scales instead of large plates of armor.
Anaspida is an extinct group of primitive jawless vertebrates that lived primarily during the Silurian period, and became extinct soon after the start of the Devonian. They were classically regarded as the ancestors of lampreys. Anaspids were small marine agnathans that lacked a heavy bony shield and paired fins, but have a striking highly hypocercal tail. They first appeared in the early Silurian, and flourished until the early Devonian, when they disappear from the fossil record.
Thelodus is an extinct genus of thelodont agnathan that lived during the Silurian period. Fossils have been found in Europe, Asia and North America. Unlike many thelodonts, species of Thelodus are known not only from scales, but from impressions in rocks. Some species, such as the Canadian T. inauditus, are thought to be comparable in size to other thelodonts, i.e., from 5 to 15 centimeters in length. The scales of the type species, T. parvidens of Silurian Great Britain, however, reach the size of coins, and, if proportioned like other thelodonts, such as Loganellia, the living animal would have been about one meter in length.
Jamoytius kerwoodi was a species of primitive, eel-like jawless fish that lived in the Llandovery epoch of the Early Silurian period.
Phlebolepis is an extinct thelodont agnathan genus belonging to the family Phlebolepididae. Whole fossils are found in Early Silurian (Llandovery) aged strata from Saaremaa, Estonia. Phlebolepis elegans was average-sized for a thelodont, 7 cm long.
Andreolepis is an extinct genus of prehistoric fish, which lived around 420 million years ago. It was described by Walter Gross in 1968 based on scales found in the Hemse Formation in Gotland, Sweden. It is placed in the monogeneric family Andreolepididae and is generally regarded as a primitive member of the class Actinopterygii based on its ganoid scale structure; however some new research regards it as a stem group of osteichthyans.
Furcacauda is a genus of thelodontid agnathan from the Lower Devonian of Canada, and is the type genus of the order Furcacaudiformes. Furcacaudiform thelodontids were deep water jawless vertebrates with symmetrical fork and lobed-finned tails and scales smaller than typical loganellid and nikoliviid thelodonti scales. Furcacaudiform thelodonts are noted as having a laterally compressed body, large anterior eyes, slightly posterior, lateral, and vertical to a small mouth, and a condensed curved row of branchial openings (gills) directly posterior to the eyes. Many but not all had laterally paired fins. Wilson and Caldwell also note the presence of a caudal peduncle and a long caudal fin made of two large lobes, one dorsal and one ventral separated by 8 to 14 smaller intermediate lobes, giving the appearance of a striated half-moon shaped tail resembling the tail of a heterostracan. A large square cavity within the gut connecting a small intestine to an anal opening lead many to believe that it is this genus that exhibits the first vertebrate stomach. According to Wilson and Caldwell their discovery, based on sediment infillings of fossils of the Furcacauda heintze, gives credence to the evolutionary development of stomach before jaws.
A fish scale is a small rigid plate that grows out of the skin of a fish. The skin of most fishes is covered with these protective scales, which can also provide effective camouflage through the use of reflection and colouration, as well as possible hydrodynamic advantages. The term scale derives from the Old French "escale", meaning a shell pod or husk.
Longodus is an extinct genus of thelodont, placed in its own family – Longopdidae – which existed in what is now Estonia during the Ludlow epoch of the upper Silurian period. The type and only species is Longodus acicularis.
Furcacaudiformes is an extinct order of jawless fish in the class Thelodonti.
Furcacaudidae is a family of thelodontid agnathan from the Lower Devonian. It is the type family of the order Furcacaudiformes.
Archipelepidiformes is an order of extinct jawless fishes in the class Thelodonti.
Archipelepis is a genus of extinct thelodont agnathans, and are the most primitive recognized thelodonts of which whole body fossils are known. Fossils of bodies and scales are currently known from Late Telychian to Wenlock-aged marine strata of northern Canada.
Phlebolepididae is an extinct thelodont agnathan family in the order Thelodontiformes.
Cape October is a headland in Severnaya Zemlya, Russia.
Anaspidomorphi (anaspidomorphs) is an extinct superclass of jawless fish.
