Ancient Seas #8
Ancient Seas Pteraspis Photo from Encyclopeadia Britannica Kingdom: Animalia Class: Pteraspidomorphi Conservation Status: Extinct (EX) Era: Pragian epoch of Devonian Era, 398 - 416 million years ago WHAT WAS IT? The pteraspis was a heterostracan fish. This means it was a jawless vertebrate. It was a common during this era for fish to be jawless. The pteraspis was also a placoderm, which meant it was armoured. To summarise, this fish has a spine but no jaw, and is half armoured. Fish were weird 400 million years ago! However, it was one of the last species of both heterostracan and placoderm fish suggesting there was no longer a need for these evolutionary advantages. Both types of fish were extinct by the end of the Devonian Era. WHAT DID IT LOOK LIKE? Well, it wasn't the prettiest fish. Its front half was armour plated, which would have been used for protection against predation. It was streamlined and finless, but did have protrusions fro...