Neurocranial anatomy of an enigmatic Early Devonian fish sheds light on early osteichthyan evolution

The skull of ' ' from the Early Devonian of Australia (AM-F101607) has significantly expanded our knowledge of early osteichthyan anatomy, but its phylogenetic position has remained uncertain. We herein describe a second skull of ' ' and present micro-CT data on both specimens to...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:eLife 2018-05, Vol.7
Main Authors: Clement, Alice M, King, Benedict, Giles, Sam, Choo, Brian, Ahlberg, Per E, Young, Gavin C, Long, John A
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Australia
Bayes Theorem
Biological Evolution
Braincase
Computed Tomography
Devonian
Devonian period
Ear, Inner - anatomy & histology
Ear, Inner - diagnostic imaging
Ear, Inner - physiology
Evolutionary Biology
Extinction, Biological
Fishes - anatomy & histology
Fishes - classification
Fishes - physiology
Fossils
Fossils - anatomy & histology
Fossils - diagnostic imaging
Fossils - history
History, Ancient
Ligulalepis
Natural history
Novels
Osteichthyes
Phylogeny
Physiological aspects
Prehistory
Scientists
Skull - anatomy & histology
Skull - diagnostic imaging
Skull - physiology
Vertebrates
X-Ray Microtomography
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Summary:The skull of ' ' from the Early Devonian of Australia (AM-F101607) has significantly expanded our knowledge of early osteichthyan anatomy, but its phylogenetic position has remained uncertain. We herein describe a second skull of ' ' and present micro-CT data on both specimens to reveal novel anatomical features, including cranial endocasts. Several features previously considered to link ' with actinopterygians are now considered generalized osteichthyan characters or of uncertain polarity. The presence of a lateral cranial canal is shown to be variable in its development between specimens. Other notable new features include the presence of a pineal foramen, the some detail of skull roof sutures, the shape of the nasal capsules, a placoderm-like hypophysial vein, and a chondrichthyan-like labyrinth system. New phylogenetic analyses place ' ' as a stem osteichthyan, specifically as the sister taxon to 'psarolepids' plus crown osteichthyans. The precise position of 'psarolepids' differs between parsimony and Bayesian analyses.
ISSN:2050-084X
2050-084X
DOI:10.7554/eLife.34349