Palaeospondylus
Palaeospondylus ("early vertebrae") is a fish-like fossil vertebrate. Its fossils are described from the Achanarras slate quarry in Caithness, Scotland.
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| Fossil on display at the Cincinnati Museum Center | |
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| Genus: | Palaeospondylus Traquair, 1890 |
| Species: | P. gunni |
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| Palaeospondylus gunni Traquair, 1890 | |
The fossil as preserved is carbonized, and indicates an eel-shaped animal up to 6 centimetres (2 in) in length. The skull, which must have consisted of hardened cartilage, exhibits pairs of nasal and auditory capsules, with a gill apparatus below its hinder part, and ambiguous indications of ordinary jaws.[citation needed]
The phylogeny of this fossil has puzzled scientists since its discovery in 1890, and many taxonomies have been suggested. In 2004, researchers proposed that Palaeospondylus was a larval lungfish. Previously, it had been classified as a larval tetrapod, unarmored placoderm, an agnathan, an early stem hagfish, and a chimera. A 2017 study suggested that it was a stem chondrichthyan.
In 2022, researchers report, based on studies using synchrotron radiation X-ray micro-computed tomography, that the neurocranium of Palaeospondylus was similar to those of the stem-tetrapods Eusthenopteron and Panderichthys, and concluded that Palaeospondylus was between those two phylogenetically.
See also
References
- This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Palaeospondylus". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
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