Rolfosteus
Rolfosteus canningensis is an extinct arthrodire placoderm from the Late Devonian of the Gogo Formation of Western Australia.
| Rolfosteus Temporal range: Frasnian | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | |
| Phylum: | |
| Class: | |
| Order: | |
| Family: | |
| Genus: | Rolfosteus Dennis and Miles 1979 |
| Species: | R. canningensis |
The 15 centimetres (5.9 in) long creature had tough plating on the front of its body. Like other arthrodires such as Coccosteus and the giant Dunkleosteus it had sharp, bony plates in its mouth which formed a turtle-like beak for cutting prey to pieces. Rolfosteus's most unusual feature was its highly elongated snout, which may have been used to enhance its sense of smell, as well as increase its hydrodynamic streamlining.
References
Further reading
- Long, John A. The Rise of Fishes: 500 Million Years of Evolution Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996. ISBN 0-8018-5438-5
External links
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.