Dipterus
| Dipterus Temporal range: Devonian,
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|---|---|
| File:Dipterus valenciennesi.jpg | |
| Fossil of D. valenciennesi from Scotland | |
| Scientific classification Edit this classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Dipnoi |
| Family: | †Dipteridae |
| Genus: | †Dipterus Sedgwick & Murchison, 1828 |
| Type species | |
| Dipterus valenciennesi Sedgwick & Murchison, 1828
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| Other species[1] | |
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Dipterus (from Greek: δίς dís, 'two' and Greek: πτερόν pteron 'wing')[2] is an extinct genus of marine lungfish from the middle Devonian period of Europe and potentially North America. The genus was established by Adam Sedgwick & Roderick Murchison in the year 1828. It was one of the first lungfish to be described by science.
In most respects, Dipterus, which was about 35 centimetres (14 in) long, closely resembled modern lungfish. Like its ancestor Dipnorhynchus, it had tooth-like plates on its palate instead of real teeth. However, unlike its modern relatives, in which the dorsal, caudal, and anal fin are fused into one, Dipterus's fins were still separated.[3]
The following species are known:[4][5]
- D. macropterus Traquair, 1888 - Lower Old Red Sandstone of Scotland
- ?D. marginalis (Agassiz, 1845) - Devonian of Leningrad Oblast, Russia
- ?D. radiatus (Eichwald, 1844) - Devonian of Leningrad Oblast, Russia
- ?D. serratus (Eichwald, 1844) - Eifelian of Latvia, Estonia, and Leningrad, Russia
- D. valenciennesi Sedgwick & Murchison, 1828 (type species) - Lower Old Red Sandstone of Scotland, including the Orkney Isles, potentially Oberer Plattenkalk of Germany[6]
Many other species from Europe and North America have also been described based on isolated tooth plates, though due to their fragmentary nature, their exact taxonomic affinity is uncertain.[4][5]
References
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- Prehistoric lungfish genera
- Middle Devonian sarcopterygians
- Devonian sarcopterygians of Europe
- Devonian sarcopterygians of North America
- Givetian extinctions
- Fossils of Scotland
- Fossils of Germany
- Fossils of Latvia
- Fossils of Estonia
- Fossils of Russia
- Fossil taxa described in 1828
- Taxa named by Roderick Murchison