Archipelepis

Archipelepis is a genus of extinct thelodont agnathans, and are the most primitive recognized thelodonts of which whole body fossils are known.[2] Fossils of bodies and scales are currently known from Late Telychian to Wenlock-aged marine strata of northern Canada.[3]

Archipelepis
Temporal range: Late Telychian-Sheinwoodian
A. turbinata
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Chordata
Class:
†Thelodonti
Order:
†Archipelepidiformes
Family:
†Archipelepididae
Genus:
†Archipelepis

Märss in Soehn et al., 2001
Type species
†Archipelepis turbinata
Märss in Soehn et al., 2001
Species
  • †Archipelepis bifurcata[1]
  • †Archipelepis turbinata

Anatomy

Both species have similar body morphology, in that both resembled tadpoles with forked tails. Scale morphology differs in that A. bifurcata has forked scales with two prong-like spires,[1] and that A. turbinata has bulbous, pointed scales that resemble upside-down spinning tops.[3]

References
  1. Märss, Tiiu, VH Wilson, Mark, & Thorsteinsson, Raymond. "New thelodont (Agnatha) and possible chondrichthyan (Gnathostomata) taxa established in the Silurian and Lower Devonian of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago."Proceedings of the Estonian Academy of Sciences, Geology. Vol. 51. No. 2. Estonian Academy Publishers, 2002.
  2. Wilson, Mark VH, and Tiiu Märss. "Thelodont phylogeny revisited, with inclusion of key scale-based taxa." Estonian Journal of Earth Sciences 58.4 (2009): 297œ310.
  3. Soehn, K. L., Märss, T., Caldwell, M. W. & Wilson, M. V. H., 2001: New and biostratigraphically useful thelodonts from the Silurian of the Mackenzie Mountains, Northwest Territories, Canada. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 21: 651-659


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