Journal article
A New Species of Laccognathus (Sarcopterygii, Porolepiformes) from the Late Devonian of Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, Canada
Journal of vertebrate paleontology, v 31(5), pp 981-996
Sep 2011
Featured in Collection : UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
Abstract
Recent work in the Late Devonian (Frasnian) Fram Formation of Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, Canada, has produced the first North American record of Laccognathus (Sarcopterygii, Porolepiformes), a taxon previously known only from Latvia and Russia. Represented by a large sample that includes cranial material from 22 individuals, Laccognathus embryi, sp. nov., is uniquely diagnosed by features including the absence of marginal teeth on coronoids 1 and 2, and the lack of a fifth posthyal branchial arch. The large sample allows detailed morphological description of many parts of the cranial skeleton, including the dermal skull, braincase, palatoquadrate, and branchial skeleton. Comparison of the faunas from the Fram Formation in Nunavut, the Escuminac Formation in Quebec, and the Lode and Gauja formations of Latvia confirms a Laurussian (Euramerican) biogeographic province in the late Middle/early Late Devonian and may indicate tolerance of some forms to varied salinities. A cranial reconstruction of the new taxon reveals a wide head with a width-to-length ratio of approximately 2:1, a large spiracular opening, a small orbit, and a lower jaw in which much of the labial surface faced ventrally. The cranial morphology suggests a benthic animal reliant on sit-and-wait predation.
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Details
- Title
- A New Species of Laccognathus (Sarcopterygii, Porolepiformes) from the Late Devonian of Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, Canada
- Creators
- Jason P Downs - Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel UniversityEdward B Daeschler - Drexel UniversityFarish A Jenkins - Harvard University, Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology and Museum of Comparative Zoology, 26 Oxford Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, U.S.A., fjenkins@oeb.harvard.eduNeil H Shubin - University of Chicago
- Publication Details
- Journal of vertebrate paleontology, v 31(5), pp 981-996
- Publisher
- Society of Vertebrate Paleontology
- Number of pages
- 16
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Biodiversity, Earth, and Environmental Science (BEES); Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University
- Web of Science ID
- WOS:000298951300004
- Scopus ID
- 2-s2.0-80052738806
- Other Identifier
- 991019168146304721
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- Collaboration types
- Domestic collaboration
- Web of Science research areas
- Paleontology