Qingmenodus

Qingmenodus
Temporal range: Early Devonian
Scientific classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Sarcopterygii
Order: Onychodontiformes
Genus:
Lu & Zhu, 2010
Type species
Qingmenodus yui
Lu & Zhu, 2010

Qingmenodus is a genus of prehistoric lobe-finned fish. Fossils of Qingmenodus were found in China and date back to the Early Devonian period. Qingmenodus reveals the first well-ossified otoccipital braincase in onychodonts. Palaeontologists believe that Qingmenodus was one of the oldest onychodont fish.[1]

Relationships

A study of additional new fossils of Qingmenodus in a larger phylogenetic analysis of Sarcopterygii including new neurocranial characters supported placing onychodontiforms as stem-coelacanths, within Actinistia.[2]

References

  1. ^ Lu, Jing; Zhu, Min (2010). "An onychodont fish (Osteichthyes, Sarcopterygii) from the Early Devonian of China, and the evolution of the Onychodontiformes". Proceedings of the Royal Society B. 277 (1679): 293–299. doi:10.1098/rspb.2009.0708. PMC 2842670. PMID 19515665.
  2. ^ Lu, J., et al. 2016. A Devonian predatory fish provides insights into the early evolution of modern sarcopterygians. Science Advances, vol. 2, no. 6, e1600154, doi:10.1126/sciadv.1600154