Rhachiosteus Explained

Rhachiosteus is an extinct monospecific genus of arthrodire placoderm from the Middle to Late Devonian of Germany. It is known only from a single specimen, which may be a larval or juvenile form, as the skull of said specimen is only 19 millimetres long.[1]

Phylogeny

Rhachiosteus is a basal member of the clade Pachyosteomorphi, the sister taxon to Coccosteomorphi, which together are the two main sub-clades of Eubrachythoraci. The cladogram below shows the phylogeny of Rhachiosteus:[2]

Notes and References

  1. Book: Denison, Robert . Placodermi Volume 2 of Handbook of Paleoichthyology . 1978 . Gustav Fischer Verlag . Stuttgart New York . 9780895740274 . 128.
  2. Zhu . You-An . Zhu . Min . Wang . Jun-Qing . 1 April 2016 . Redescription of Yinostius major (Arthrodira: Heterostiidae) from the Lower Devonian of China, and the interrelationships of Brachythoraci . . 176 . 4 . 806–834 . 10.1111/zoj.12356. 0024-4082 . free .