Palaeospondylus

From Freepedia

Palaeospondylus is a genus of fish-like fossil vertebrates. One species Palaeospondylus gunni was described from Achannaras slate quarry in Caithness, Scotland.

The fossil as preserved is carbonized, and indicates an eelshaped animal from 3 to 5 cm., 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, but no indications of ordinary jaws.

In 2004, researchers proposed that Palaeospondylus was a larval lungfish.

See also

• Prehistoric fish

Reference

• Thomson, K.S. 2004. A Palaeontological Puzzle Solved?. American Scientist 92:209

This article incorporates text from the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, which is in the public domain.