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Acanthodian and coelacanth fish from the Dinantian of Foulden, Berwickshire, Scotland

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 November 2011

P. L. Forey
Affiliation:
Department of Palaeontology, British Museum (Natural History), Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, England.
V. T. Young
Affiliation:
Department of Palaeontology, British Museum (Natural History), Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, England.

Abstract

Acanthodians are represented by numerous young and poorly cranially ossified Acanthodes ovensi White, the earliest known acanthodid. Study of the small A. ovensi together with the type series shows that squamation begins posteriorly, and spreads anteriorly along an initially triangular front, as in A. bridgei Zidek. Gyracanthus sp. occurs at several horizons in the sequence. The coelacanth remains include the first articulated specimen known from Foulden, but preservation only allows an assignment to cf. Rhabdoderma. Although these taxa are distinctive, resemblances to other taxa occur only in generalised features. Hence, unlike the Foulden actinopterygian fish, the acanthodians and coelacanths cannot be used to suggest closer affinities with any other fish of this age, on which information is sparse.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Royal Society of Edinburgh 1985

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