Palaeospondylus

Palaeospondylus gunni (Gunn's ancient vertebrae) is a mysterious, fish-like fossil vertebrate. Its fossils are described from Achanarras slate quarry in Caithness, Scotland.

Palaeospondylus
Temporal range: Middle Devonian
Reconstruction of Palaeospondylus as an agnathan
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Chordata
Genus:
Palaeospondylus

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.

The phylogeny of this bizarre 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.[1] Previously, it had been classified as a larval tetrapod, unarmored placoderm, an agnathan, an early stem hagfish, and a chimera.[2][3] The most recent suggestion is that it is a stem chondrichthyan.[4]

See also

References
  1. Thomson, K.S. (2004). "A Palaeontological Puzzle Solved?". American Scientist. 92 (3): 209–211. doi:10.1511/2004.47.3425. JSTOR 27858385.
  2. Palmer, D., ed. (1999). The Marshall Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals. London: Marshall Editions. p. 33. ISBN 1-84028-152-9.
  3. Hirasawa, T; Oisi, Y; Kuratani, S (2016). "Palaeospondylus as a primitive hagfish". Zoological Letters. 2 (1): 20. doi:10.1186/s40851-016-0057-0. PMC 5015246. PMID 27610240.
  4. Johanson, Zerina; Smith, Moya; Sanchez, Sophie; Senden, Tim; Trinajstic, Kate; Pfaff, Cathrin (2017). "Questioning hagfish affinities of the enigmatic Devonian vertebrate Palaeospondylus". Royal Society Open Science. 4 (7): 170214. Bibcode:2017RSOS....470214J. doi:10.1098/rsos.170214. PMC 5541543. PMID 28791148.
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